International Violence Against Women Act of 2015
A BILL
To prevent international violence against women, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
An estimated 1 out of every 3 women throughout the world will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
Up to 70 percent of women in some countries report experiencing gender-based violence at some point in their lives.
Intimate partner violence is the most prevalent form of violence against women, preventing them from playing more active roles in the social, economic, and political development of their communities.
Sexual violence among adolescents and pre-adolescents is alarmingly high. National surveys in Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Haiti have found that 28 to 38 percent of girls and 9 to 18 percent of boys report experiencing sexual violence before the age of 18.
Adult male respondents in 6 countries who had experienced violence as children were significantly more likely to report perpetrating intimate partner violence themselves according to the International Men and Gender Equality Survey dataset.
Gender-based violence (GBV) harms economies and the workers that fuel them. Despite underreporting, striking statistics document prevalent forms of GBV globally that affect the world of work. Worldwide, women are concentrated in low-wage, insecure jobs in workplaces where they lack bargaining power, protections against gender-based violence, safe and confidential reporting systems, recourse to justice, or access to legal, medical, and psychosocial services. Conservative estimates of lost productivity as a result of gender-based violence range from 1.2 percent of GDP in Brazil and Tanzania to 2 percent of GDP in Chile.
Women living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence. Lack of economic opportunities often compels women to use desperate and dangerous means to provide for themselves and their families, risking significant exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse. These women often cannot afford critical social and medical services.
Research conducted in India, Colombia, South Africa, and Uganda indicates that when women have greater control of assets, they are less likely to experience intimate partner violence. Additionally, when women participate in the economy, they are able to develop a wider support network, which allows them to more easily escape intimate partner violence.
Gender-based violence impacts livelihoods and food security by reducing work capacity and productivity, including the ability to grow food for consumption. Studies have shown that women affected by gender-based violence are exposed to illnesses and injuries that hamper their ability to work productively and care for their families. Diminished food production consequently increases hunger and women’s vulnerability to further violence.
Country studies indicate that the risk of HIV among women who have experienced violence may be up to 3 times higher than among those who have not. The World Health Organization found that women who experience intimate partner violence are at over 50-percent greater risk of HIV infection, and in some instances their risk increases four-fold. Women living with HIV are more likely to experience violence than other women, and fear of violence can prevent women from accessing HIV/AIDS information and receiving treatment and counseling.
Addressing gender norms and inequities is essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services for women and men. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports significant work in the field to incorporate efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence into existing HIV treatment and prevention programs. In fiscal year 2012, PEPFAR investments reached 720,000 people in 11 countries with services or interventions that explicitly addressed gender-based violence and coercion.
Prevalence of sexual violence is higher among persons with disabilities, particularly for adolescents and intimate partners with disabilities, and for men and women with intellectual impairments living in institutions. The World Health Organization reports that rates of gender-based violence are 4 to 10 times greater among persons with disabilities than non-disabled persons.
Displaced, refugee, and stateless women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict settings, and natural disasters face extreme violence and threats, including—
being forced to exchange sex for food and humanitarian supplies; and
being at increased risk of rape, sexual exploitation, and abuse.
Rape and sexual assault against women and girls are used to torture, intimidate, and terrorize communities. Rape and sexual assault are used as tools of war in conflict zones, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Colombia, and South Sudan. A 2011 study found that 48 women were raped every hour in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Early and forced marriage of girls—
is a harmful practice that deprives girls of their dignity and rights and creates barriers to development for communities and countries;
is projected to affect more than 140,000,000 girls who will become brides between 2011 and 2020;
can prematurely end girls’ education, increase vulnerability to gender-based violence, and significantly raise the risk of maternal and infant morbidity or mortality, including the risk of obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS; and
is perpetuated by poverty, a lack of educational or employment opportunities for girls, and religious, cultural, and social factors related to girls’ perceived lack of value, factors which become particularly acute in conflict and disaster settings where fears of sexual violence often drive early, child, and forced marriage.
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is carried out most often on girls between infancy and age 15 and has impacted more than 125,000,000 girls and women alive today. FGM/C can cause long-term health problems, including infertility, complications in childbirth, and increased risk of newborn deaths.
World Bank data shows that gender inequality directly corresponds to increased levels of political and economic instability within states. Gender-based violence impedes women’s meaningful participation in social, political, and economic spheres, which is essential to the stability and democratization of a country. Since women disproportionately experience gender-based violence during conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, they can play a pivotal role in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict, and countering extremism, evidenced in contexts including Northern Ireland and Liberia.
Gender-based violence is a contributing factor to human trafficking. Experts in the field have reported that women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence and live in societies that tolerate severe gender discrimination appear to be more vulnerable to being trafficked. Comprehensive efforts to reduce human trafficking must include efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence due to the intertwined relationship of the two crimes.
Faith-based organizations and faith leaders have an important role to play in the ongoing efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. Where engaged as genuine partners and equipped with knowledge and resources, they can yield great gains. In countries that lack effective legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, they have the standing and authority to address harmful practices such as acid throwing.
Sec. 3 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States—
to take effective action to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the world, as a matter of basic human rights as well as to promote gender equality, economic growth, and improved public health;
to systematically integrate and coordinate efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally into United States foreign policy and foreign assistance programs, including peace-building efforts and humanitarian relief and recovery;
to support and build local capacity in developing countries, including of governments at all levels and nongovernmental organizations, especially women-led organizations, to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls;
to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental partners with demonstrated experience in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, including faith-based organizations and women-led organizations;
to employ a multisectoral approach to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls internationally, including activities in the economic, education, health, nutrition, legal, and judicial sectors;
to work at all levels, from the individual to the family, community, local, national and international levels, to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the globe;
to enhance training by United States personnel of professional foreign military and police forces and judicial officials to include specific and thorough instruction on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls around the world;
to engage men and boys as partners, as an essential element of making sustained reductions in violence against women and girls;
to include the prevention of early and forced marriage as an important part of United States Government efforts to prevent violence against girls and promote gender equality and global health;
to require that all United States contractors and grantees establish appropriate policies and take effective measures to prevent violence against women and girls and sexual exploitation and abuse within their workforce;
to exert sustained international leadership to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, including in bilateral and multilateral fora;
to implement the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally; and
to implement the United States National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.