International Violence Against Women Act of 2019
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 between 28 and 38 percent of girls and between 9 and 18 percent of boys report experiencing sexual violence before reaching 18 years of age.
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 harms economies and the workers that fuel them. Despite underreporting, striking statistics document prevalent forms of gender-based violence 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.
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 labor exploitation and sexual exploitation and abuse for both women and their children.
Country studies indicate that the risk of HIV among women who have experienced violence may be up to three times higher than among those who have not experienced violence. The World Health Organization found that women who experience intimate partner violence are at more than 50 percent greater risk of HIV infection, and in some instances their risk of HIV infection 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 inequality and gender-based violence 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.
Prevalence of sexual and physical 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 between 4 and 10 times greater among persons with disabilities compared to 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, trafficking, 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.
Child and forced marriage—
is a harmful practice that deprives girls and women of their dignity and rights and creates barriers to development for communities and countries;
is projected to affect more than 140,000,000 girls around the world who have been or will be forced into marriage 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, a lack of legal policies and enforcement of laws, 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 and overstretched coping mechanisms often drive child and forced marriage.
The harmful practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is carried out most often on girls between infancy and 15 years of age and has impacted more than 125,000,000 girls and women around the world who are 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.
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 are key partners in the ongoing efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. When properly engaged and equipped with knowledge and resources, such organizations and leaders can play a significant part in changing behaviors and norms and reducing gender-based violence. Particularly in countries that lack effective legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, such faith-based organizations and faith leaders have the standing and authority to address harmful practices, such as child marriage, intimate partner abuses, and acid throwing.
Sec. 3 Statement of policy
It is the policy of the United States—
to take effective action to prevent and respond to gender-based violence around the world as a matter of basic human rights and to promote gender equality, economic growth, and improved public health;
to systematically integrate and coordinate efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence 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 the capacity of governments at all levels, nongovernmental organizations, especially women-led organizations, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence;
to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental partners with demonstrated experience in preventing and responding to gender-based violence, including faith-based organizations and women-led organizations;
to employ a multisectoral approach to preventing and responding to gender-based violence 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 gender-based violence around the world;
to enhance training by United States personnel of professional foreign military and police forces, judicial officials, and other public justice system officials, including prosecutors, including specific and thorough instruction on preventing and responding to gender-based violence around the world;
to engage men and boys as partners, as an essential element of making sustained reductions in gender-based violence;
to include the prevention of child 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 gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, including within the workforce;
to exert sustained international leadership to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, including in bilateral and multilateral fora; and
to implement a strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally.