I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5267 

To prevent international violence against women, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 26, 2019 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Ms. SPEIER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. MOORE, Ms. 

MENG, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. TITUS, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Mr. RUSH, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

RASKIN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

COOPER, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. DEGETTE, 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. FRANKEL, Ms. HOULAHAN, 

Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DELBENE, 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SOTO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

WELCH, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Ms. KUSTER of 

New Hampshire, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. KIND, Mr. 

KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. WILD, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. HAYES, 

Mr. CLAY, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. LEVIN

of Michigan, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. DAVID

SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BERA, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. COX of 

California, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

COSTA, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

EVANS, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, 

Mr. MEEKS, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. TRONE, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. OMAR, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 


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A BILL 

To prevent international violence against women, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘International Violence Against Women Act of 2019’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Statement of policy. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. 

TITLE I—STRATEGY, POLICY, AND PROGRAMS 

Sec. 101. United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. 

Sec. 102. Implementation of the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally. 

Sec. 103. Monitoring the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to 

Gender-Based Violence Globally. 

TITLE II—OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

Sec. 201. Office of Global Women’s Issues. 

Sec. 202. Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. 

Sec. 203. Briefing and assessment. 

Sec. 204. Addressing violence against women and girls in humanitarian relief, 

peacekeeping, conflict, and postconflict settings. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress makes the following findings: 

10 (1) An estimated one out of every three women 

11 throughout the world will be beaten, coerced into 

12 sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. 


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1 (2) Up to 70 percent of women in some coun2 tries report experiencing gender-based violence at 

3 some point in their lives. 

4 (3) Intimate partner violence is the most preva5 lent form of violence against women, preventing 

6 them from playing more active roles in the social, 

7 economic, and political development of their commu8 nities. 

9 (4) Sexual violence among adolescents and pre10 adolescents is alarmingly high. National surveys in 

11 Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Haiti 

12 have found that between 28 and 38 percent of girls 

13 and between 9 and 18 percent of boys report experi14 encing sexual violence before reaching 18 years of 

15 age. 

16 (5) Adult male respondents in six countries who 

17 had experienced violence as children were signifi18 cantly more likely to report perpetrating intimate 

19 partner violence themselves according to the Inter20 national Men and Gender Equality Survey dataset. 

21 Analysis by the International Center for Research on 

22 Women further shows that men who witnessed vio23 lence against their mothers are consistently and sig24 nificantly more likely to report perpetrating sexual 

25 violence. Further, sexually aggressive behaviors start 


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1 young for these men, and overlap significantly with 

2 other forms of physical violence. 

3 (6) Gender-based violence harms economies and 

4 the workers that fuel them. Despite under-reporting, 

5 striking statistics document prevalent forms of gen6 der-based violence globally that affect the world of 

7 work. Worldwide, women are concentrated in low8 wage, insecure jobs in workplaces where they lack 

9 bargaining power, protections against gender-based 

10 violence, safe and confidential reporting systems, re11 course to justice, and access to legal, medical, and 

12 psychosocial services. 

13 (7) Women living in poverty are particularly 

14 vulnerable to gender-based violence. Lack of eco15 nomic opportunities often compel women to use des16 perate and dangerous means to provide for them17 selves and their families, risking significant exposure 

18 to sexual exploitation and abuse. These women often 

19 cannot afford critical social and medical services. 

20 (8) Research conducted in India, Colombia, 

21 South Africa, and Uganda indicates that when 

22 women have greater control of assets, they are less 

23 likely to experience intimate partner violence. Addi24 tionally, when women participate in the economy, 

25 they are able to develop a wider support network, 


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1 which allows them to more easily escape intimate 

2 partner violence. 

3 (9) Gender-based violence impacts livelihoods 

4 and food security by reducing work capacity and 

5 productivity, including the ability to grow food for 

6 consumption. Studies have shown that women af7 fected by gender-based violence are exposed to ill8 nesses and injuries that hamper their ability to work 

9 productively and care for their families. Diminished 

10 food production consequently increases hunger and 

11 women’s vulnerability to further violence. 

12 (10) Country studies indicate that the risk of 

13 HIV among women who have experienced violence 

14 may be up to three times higher than among those 

15 who have not experienced violence. The World 

16 Health Organization found that women who experi17 ence intimate partner violence are at more than 50 

18 percent greater risk of HIV infection, and in some 

19 instances their risk of HIV infection increases four20 fold. Women living with HIV are more likely to ex21 perience violence than other women, and fear of vio22 lence can prevent women from accessing HIV/AIDS 

23 information and receiving treatment and counseling. 

24 (11) Addressing gender norms and inequities is 

25 essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access 


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1 to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for 

2 women and men. 

3 (12) Prevalence of sexual and physical violence 

4 is higher among persons with disabilities, particu5 larly for adolescents and intimate partners with dis6 abilities, and for men and women with intellectual 

7 impairments living in institutions. The World Health 

8 Organization reports that rates of gender-based vio9 lence are between 4 and 10 times greater among 

10 persons with disabilities compared to non-disabled 

11 persons. 

12 (13) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women 

13 and girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict set14 tings, and natural disasters face extreme violence 

15 and threats, including— 

16 (A) being forced to exchange sex for food 

17 and humanitarian supplies; and 

18 (B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual 

19 exploitation, and abuse. 

20 (14) Rape and sexual assault against women 

21 and girls are used to torture, intimidate, and ter22 rorize communities. Rape and sexual assault are 

23 used as tools of war in conflict zones, including the 

24 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Syria, Af25 ghanistan, El Salvador, and South Sudan. UNFPA, 


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1 the United Nation’s reproductive health and rights 

2 agency, leads the Gender Based Violence Area of 

3 Responsibility, which is responsible for global coordi4 nation and collaboration on GBV prevention and re5 sponse in humanitarian settings and is a leading 

6 provider of post-rape care and other reproductive 

7 health services and commodities in humanitarian 

8 settings. 

9 (15) Child and forced marriage of girls— 

10 (A) is a harmful practice that deprives 

11 girls of their dignity and rights and creates bar12 riers to development for communities and coun13 tries; 

14 (B) is projected to affect more than 

15 150,000,000 girls who will become brides be16 tween 2019 and 2030; 

17 (C) can prematurely end girls’ education, 

18 increase vulnerability to gender-based violence, 

19 and significantly raise the risk of maternal and 

20 infant morbidity or mortality, including the risk 

21 of obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted dis22 eases, including HIV/AIDS; 

23 (D) is perpetuated by poverty, a lack of 

24 educational or employment opportunities for 

25 girls, a lack of legal policies and enforcement of 


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1 laws, and religious, cultural, and social factors 

2 related to girls’ perceived lack of value, factors 

3 which become particularly acute in conflict and 

4 disaster settings where fears of sexual violence 

5 and overstretched coping mechanisms often 

6 drive child and forced marriage; and 

7 (E) child marriage is estimated to con8 tribute, on average, to a loss in earnings of 

9 about nine percent for women who married 

10 early, which translates into a loss of about one 

11 percent in earnings for the entire labor force 

12 when factoring in all working adults. 

13 (16) Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/ 

14 C) is carried out most often on girls between infancy 

15 and 15 years of age and has impacted more than 

16 200,000,000 girls and women who are alive today. 

17 FGM/C can cause long-term health problems, includ18 ing infertility, complications in childbirth, increased 

19 risk of newborn deaths, and psychological trauma. 

20 Mental health is one of the least explored domains 

21 of impact of gender-based violence; indeed, self-harm 

22 and suicide is the leading cause of death globally for 

23 adolescent girls aged 15–19. 

24 (17) World Bank data shows that gender in25 equality directly corresponds to increased levels of 


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1 political and economic instability within states. Gen2 der-based violence impedes women’s meaningful par3 ticipation in social, political, and economic spheres, 

4 which is essential to the stability and democratiza5 tion of a country. Since women disproportionately 

6 experience gender-based violence during conflict and 

7 post-conflict reconstruction, they can play a pivotal 

8 role in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict, 

9 and countering extremism. 

10 (18) Gender-based violence is a contributing 

11 factor to human trafficking. Experts in the field 

12 have reported that women and girls who have experi13 enced gender-based violence and live in societies that 

14 tolerate severe gender discrimination appear to be 

15 more vulnerable to being trafficked. Comprehensive 

16 efforts to reduce human trafficking must include ef17 forts to prevent and respond to gender-based vio18 lence due to the intertwined relationship of the two 

19 crimes. 

20 (19) Health services are among the first places 

21 survivors of violence seek assistance. Health-focused 

22 nongovernmental organizations and United Nations 

23 agencies like UNFPA, the Reproductive Health and 

24 Rights Agency, have critical opportunities to reach 

25 affected women and girls. 


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1 (20) Gender-based violence also manifests on2 line; gender-based cyberviolence is a growing con3 cern, with women and girls disproportionately af4 fected and targeted based on their appearance, activ5 ism, and sexuality. 

6 (21) Taking meaningful action to address gen7 der-based violence is an imperative acknowledgment 

8 of a woman’s agency and personal right to leading 

9 a dignified life. 

10 (22) Addressing gender norms and inequities is 

11 essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access 

12 to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for 

13 women and men. 

14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

15 It is the policy of the United States— 

16 (1) to take effective action to prevent and re17 spond to violence against women and girls around 

18 the world as a matter of basic human rights and to 

19 promote gender equality, economic growth, and im20 proved public health; 

21 (2) to systematically integrate and coordinate 

22 efforts to prevent and respond to violence against 

23 women and girls internationally into United States 

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1 cluding peace-building efforts and humanitarian re2 lief and recovery; 

3 (3) to support and build local capacity in devel4 oping countries, including the capacity of govern5 ments at all levels and nongovernmental organiza6 tions, especially women-led organizations to prevent 

7 and respond to violence against women and girls; 

8 (4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and col9 laborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental 

10 partners with demonstrated experience in preventing 

11 and responding to violence against women and girls, 

12 including faith-based organizations and women-led 

13 organizations; 

14 (5) to employ a multisectoral approach to pre15 venting and responding to violence against women 

16 and girls internationally, including activities in the 

17 economic, education, health, nutrition, legal, and ju18 dicial sectors; 

19 (6) to work at all levels, from the individual to 

20 the family, community, local, national, and inter21 national levels, to prevent and respond to violence 

22 against women and girls around the world; 

23 (7) to enhance training by United States per24 sonnel of professional foreign military and police 

25 forces and judicial officials, including specific and 


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1 thorough instruction on preventing and responding 

2 to violence against women and girls around the 

3 world; 

4 (8) to engage men and boys as partners, as an 

5 essential element of making sustained reductions in 

6 violence against women and girls; 

7 (9) to include the prevention of child and forced 

8 marriage as an important part of United States 

9 Government efforts to prevent violence against girls 

10 and promote gender equality and global health; 

11 (10) to require that all United States contrac12 tors and grantees establish appropriate policies and 

13 take effective measures to prevent violence against 

14 women and girls and sexual exploitation and abuse 

15 within their workforce; 

16 (11) to exert sustained international leadership 

17 to prevent and respond to violence against women 

18 and girls, including in bilateral and multilateral fora; 

19 and 

20 (12) to implement the United States Strategy 

21 to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence 

22 Globally. 

23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.—The term ‘‘Am2 bassador-at-Large’’ means the Ambassador-at-Large 

3 for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of 

4 State appointed by the President pursuant to section 

5 201(a). 

6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

10 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

11 of Representatives; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

13 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

14 Senate. 

15 (3) GENDER ANALYSIS.—The term ‘‘gender 

16 analysis’’ means the examination of the differential 

17 impact of policies on different genders. 

18 (4) GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE.—The term 

19 ‘‘gender-based violence’’— 

20 (A) means any harmful threat or act di21 rected at an individual or group based on actual 

22 or perceived biological sex, gender identity or 

23 expression, sexual orientation, or lack of adher24 ence to varying socially constructed norms 

25 around masculinity and femininity; 


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1 (B) is rooted in structural gender inequal2 ities, patriarchy, and power imbalances; and 

3 (C) includes the use or threat of physical, 

4 psychological, sexual, economic, legal, political, 

5 social and other forms of control or abuse. 

6 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of7 fice of Global Women’s Issues established by the 

8 Secretary of State pursuant to section 201(a). 

9 (6) SENIOR COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Senior 

10 Coordinator’’ means the Senior Coordinator for Gen11 der Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the 

12 United States Agency for International Development 

13 appointed pursuant to section 202. 

14 (7) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.— 

15 The term ‘‘violence against women and girls’’— 

16 (A) means any act of violence against 

17 women or girls that results in, or is likely to re18 sult in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm 

19 or suffering to women or girls, including threats 

20 of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivations 

21 of liberty, whether occurring in public or private 

22 life; and 

23 (B) includes— 

24 (i) physical, sexual, and psychological 

25 violence occurring in the family, including 


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1 battering, sexual abuse of female children 

2 in the household, dowry-related violence, 

3 marital rape, female genital cutting and 

4 mutilation, forced child marriage, and 

5 other harmful practices to women and 

6 girls, nonspousal violence, and violence re7 lated to exploitation; 

8 (ii) physical, sexual, and psychological 

9 violence occurring within the general com10 munity, including rape, sexual abuse, sex11 ual harassment and intimidation at work, 

12 in educational institutions and elsewhere, 

13 trafficking in women and girls, and forced 

14 prostitution; and 

15 (iii) physical, sexual, and psycho16 logical violence perpetrated or condoned by 

17 the state, wherever it occurs. 

18 TITLE I—STRATEGY, POLICY, 

19 AND PROGRAMS 

20 SEC. 101. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND RE21 SPOND TO GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE GLOB22 ALLY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

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1 after, the Ambassador-at-Large, in consultation with the 

2 Senior Coordinator, shall— 

3 (1) develop or update, in consultation with civil 

4 society, including service providers, a United States 

5 global strategy to prevent and respond to violence 

6 against women and girls, using evidence-based inter7 ventions and standards that address the root causes 

8 of, and provide comprehensive responses to, violence 

9 against women and girls; 

10 (2) submit the strategy under paragraph (1) to 

11 the appropriate congressional committees for com12 ment and review; and 

13 (3) make the strategy publicly available on the 

14 internet. 

15 (b) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of this 

16 section, the ‘‘United States Strategy to Prevent and Re17 spond to Gender-Based Violence Globally’’, issued in Au18 gust 2012 and updated in 2016, shall be deemed to fulfill 

19 the initial requirement of subsection (a). 

20 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 60 

21 days after submission of the strategy under subsection (a), 

22 the Ambassador-at-Large, in consultation with the Senior 

23 Coordinator, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees an implementation plan detailing how the 

25 strategy will be implemented in the upcoming 4 fiscal 


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1 years, including the budget resources requested, and the 

2 specific activities to be supported, by each Executive agen3 cy under the strategy. 

4 (d) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel5 oping the strategy under subsection (a), the Ambassador6 at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall consult with— 

7 (1) the heads of relevant Federal agencies; 

8 (2) the Senior Policy Operating Group on Traf9 ficking in Persons; and 

10 (3) representatives of civil society, including 

11 nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organi12 zations, multilateral organizations, local and inter13 national civil society groups, and local service pro14 viders and beneficiaries with demonstrated experi15 ence in addressing violence against women and girls 

16 or promoting gender equality internationally. 

17 (e) CONTENT.—The implementation plan required 

18 under subsection (c) shall— 

19 (1) identify eligible low-income and lower-mid20 dle income countries with significant levels of vio21 lence against women and girls, including within dis22 placed communities, that have the governmental or 

23 nongovernmental organizational capacity to manage 

24 and implement gender-based violence prevention and 

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1 sible, be geographically, ethnically, and culturally di2 verse from one another; 

3 (2) select 5 to 20 of the eligible countries iden4 tified under paragraph (1) in which to develop com5 prehensive and holistic individual country plans that 

6 incorporate at least two of the program activities 

7 listed in section 102(b); 

8 (3) assess and describe the current or potential 

9 capacity of the government of each eligible country 

10 selected under paragraph (2) and civil society orga11 nizations in each such eligible country to address 

12 and respond to violence against women and girls; 

13 (4) identify coordination mechanisms with Fed14 eral agencies that— 

15 (A) have existing programs relevant to the 

16 strategy; 

17 (B) will be involved in new program activi18 ties; and 

19 (C) are engaged in broader United States 

20 strategies around development; 

21 (5) describe the monitoring and evaluation 

22 mechanisms established for each eligible country, 

23 and their intended use in assessing overall progress 

24 in prevention and response; 


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1 (6) project general levels of resources needed to 

2 achieve the stated objectives in each eligible country, 

3 including an accounting of— 

4 (A) activities and funding already ex5 pended by the Department of State, the United 

6 States Agency for International Development, 

7 and other Federal agencies, donor country gov8 ernments, and multilateral institutions; and 

9 (B) leveraged private sector resources; 

10 (7) integrate gender analysis into the strategy 

11 for each country; and 

12 (8) include, as appropriate, strategies designed 

13 to accommodate the needs of stateless, disabled, in14 ternally displaced refugees and religious or ethnic 

15 minority women and girls. 

16 SEC. 102. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES 

17 STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO 

18 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE GLOBALLY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

20 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development are authorized to provide assistance 

22 to prevent and respond to violence against women and 

23 girls internationally. 

24 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance 

25 provided under this section shall be used to carry out, in 


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1 each of the countries identified in the strategy required 

2 pursuant to subsection 101(e)(2), two or more of the fol3 lowing program activities: 

4 (1) Increasing legal and judicial protections 

5 by— 

6 (A) supporting programs that strengthen a 

7 coordinated community response to violence 

8 against women and girls, including through co9 ordination between judges, police, prosecutors, 

10 and legal advocates to enhance prospects for 

11 perpetrator accountability; 

12 (B) supporting efforts and providing re13 sources to provide training and technical assist14 ance to police, prosecutors, forensic physicians, 

15 lawyers, corrections officers, judges, and judi16 cial officials, and where appropriate, to non17 lawyer advocates and traditional community au18 thorities on violence against women and girls; 

19 (C) supporting efforts to reform and revise 

20 criminal and civil laws to prohibit violence 

21 against women and girls and create account22 ability for perpetrators; 

23 (D) enhancing the capacity of the justice 

24 sector, including keeping official records of all 

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1 dence, systematizing and tracking data on cases 

2 of violence against women and girls, and under3 taking investigations and evidence gathering ex4 peditiously; 

5 (E) helping women and girls who are vic6 tims of violence gain access to the justice sector 

7 and supporting them throughout the legal proc8 ess, including establishing victim and witness 

9 units for courts and promoting support for sur10 vivor services, including hotlines and shelters; 

11 (F) promoting civil remedies in cases of 

12 domestic violence that— 

13 (i) prioritize victim safety and con14 fidentiality and offender accountability; 

15 (ii) grant women and children re16 straining, protection, or removal orders 

17 with appropriate criminal sanctions for vio18 lations against perpetrators of violence; 

19 (iii) strengthen and promote women’s 

20 custodial rights over children and protect 

21 children; and 

22 (iv) grant courts authority to provide 

23 specific relief pursuant to a restraining or 

24 removal order, including restitution, spous25 al maintenance, child support, payment of 


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1 debt, or return or equitable distribution of 

2 property; 

3 (G) reducing the incidence of violence 

4 against women and girls committed by govern5 ment officials by developing confidential mecha6 nisms for reporting violence against women and 

7 girls committed by government officials and in8 stitutions and developing laws to punish the 

9 perpetrators and remove immunity from state 

10 officials; 

11 (H) promoting broader legal protection for 

12 women and girls against all forms of violence 

13 against women and girls, such as female infan14 ticide and female genital mutilation, and prac15 tices that are associated with higher rates of vi16 olence against women and girls, such as child 

17 and forced marriage; and 

18 (I) increasing the number of women advo19 cates trained to respond to violence against 

20 women and girls at police stations, including 

21 the creation of domestic violence units and in22 creasing the number of women police. 

23 (2) Carrying out health care initiatives, includ24 ing— 


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1 (A) promoting the integration of programs 

2 to prevent and respond to violence against 

3 women and girls into existing programs ad4 dressing child survival, women’s health, repro5 ductive health, family planning, mental health, 

6 and HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; 

7 (B) training of health care providers, in8 cluding traditional birth attendants, on methods 

9 to safely and confidentially assess women and 

10 girls seeking health services for intimate part11 ner, family, and sexual violence; 

12 (C) developing and enforcing national and 

13 operational women’s health, reproductive health, 

14 children’s health, and HIV/AIDS policies that 

15 prevent and respond to violence against women 

16 and girls, with accompanying resources, includ17 ing through cooperative efforts with ministries 

18 of health; 

19 (D) developing information gathering sys20 tems within the health care sector that, con21 sistent with safety and confidentiality concerns, 

22 collect and compile data on the type of violence 

23 against women and girls, access to care, age of 

24 victims, and relationship of victims to perpetra25 tors; 


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1 (E) working with governments to develop 

2 partnerships with civil society organizations to 

3 create referral networks systems for psycho4 social, legal, economic, or other support serv5 ices; and 

6 (F) integrating screening and assessment 

7 for gender-based violence into HIV/AIDS pro8 gramming and other health programming into 

9 all country operation plans, and increasing 

10 women’s access to information, strategies, and 

11 services to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. 

12 (3) Conducting public awareness programs to 

13 change social norms and attitudes, including— 

14 (A) supporting women survivors of violence 

15 to educate their communities on the impacts of 

16 violence; 

17 (B) engaging men, including faith and tra18 ditional leaders; 

19 (C) providing funding and programmatic 

20 support for mass media social change cam21 paigns; and 

22 (D) supporting community efforts to 

23 change attitudes about harmful traditional 

24 practices, including child marriage, female gen25 ital mutilation, and so-called ‘‘honor killings’’. 


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1 (4) Improving economic opportunities for 

2 women and girls, including— 

3 (A) supporting programs to help women 

4 meet their economic needs and to increase their 

5 economic opportunities, in both rural and urban 

6 areas, including through support for— 

7 (i) the establishment and development 

8 of businesses (micro, small, and medium9 sized enterprises) through access to finan10 cial and nonfinancial services; and 

11 (ii) education, literacy, and numeracy 

12 programs, leadership development and job 

13 skills training, especially in nontraditional 

14 fields and expected growth sectors; 

15 (B) supporting programs to help increase 

16 property rights, social security, and home own17 ership and land tenure security for women by— 

18 (i) promoting equitable extension of 

19 property and inheritance rights, particu20 larly rights to familial and marital prop21 erty; 

22 (ii) promoting legal literacy, including 

23 among faith and traditional leaders, about 

24 women’s property rights; and 


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1 (iii) helping women to make land 

2 claims and protecting women’s existing 

3 claims and advocating for equitable land ti4 tling and registration for women, including 

5 safeguards for women title-holders in the 

6 case of domestic violence disputes; 

7 (C) integrating activities to prevent and re8 spond to violence against women and girls into 

9 existing economic opportunity programs by— 

10 (i) integrating education on violence 

11 against women and girls into women’s 

12 microfinance, microenterprise, and job 

13 skills training programs; and 

14 (ii) training providers of economic op15 portunity services and programs in sensi16 tivity to violence against women and girls; 

17 and 

18 (D) addressing violence against women and 

19 girls in the workplace. 

20 (5) Improving educational opportunities for 

21 women and girls, including— 

22 (A) supporting efforts and providing re23 sources to provide training for all teachers and 

24 school administrators on school-related violence, 

25 in particular increasing awareness of violence 


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1 against women and girls, and to improve re2 porting, referral, and implementation of codes 

3 of conduct; 

4 (B) working to ensure the safety of girls 

5 during their travel to and from school and on 

6 school grounds; 

7 (C) supporting programs for girls and boys 

8 on the unacceptability of violence against 

9 women and girls; 

10 (D) comprehensive sexuality education pro11 grams which include consent education; and 

12 (E) conducting national and baseline sur13 veys to collect data on school-related violence 

14 against women and girls. 

15 (c) BUILDING LOCAL CAPACITY.—Not less than 10 

16 percent of the amount of assistance provided to an eligible 

17 country under this section should be provided to commu18 nity-based nongovernmental or faith-based organizations, 

19 with priority given to nongovernmental organizations led 

20 by women. 

21 SEC. 103. MONITORING THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO 

22 PREVENT AND RESPOND TO GENDER-BASED 

23 VIOLENCE GLOBALLY. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In each strategy submitted under 

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1 ordinator shall include an analysis of best practices for 

2 preventing and addressing violence against women and 

3 girls internationally, which shall include— 

4 (1) a description of successful efforts by foreign 

5 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern6 mental organizations, educational organizations, and 

7 faith-based organizations in preventing and respond8 ing to violence against women and girls; 

9 (2) recommendations related to best practices, 

10 effective strategies, and improvements to enhance 

11 the impact of prevention and response efforts; and 

12 (3) the impact of activities funded by the strat13 egy in preventing and reducing violence against 

14 women and girls internationally. 

15 (b) AMENDMENTS.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 

16 1961 is amended— 

17 (1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d))— 

18 (A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking 

21 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

22 and 

23 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(13) wherever applicable, the nature and ex2 tent of violence against women and girls (as such 

3 term is defined in section 4 of the International Vio4 lence Against Women Act of 2019).’’; and 

5 (2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304)— 

6 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

7 designated as subsection (i) as subsection (j); 

8 and 

9 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

10 subsection: 

11 ‘‘(k) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO VI12 OLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.—The report re13 quired by subsection (b) shall include, wherever applicable, 

14 the nature and extent of violence against women and girls 

15 (as such term is defined in section 4 of the International 

16 Violence Against Women Act of 2019).’’. 

17 (c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—In coordination 

18 with relevant officials, and consistent with the monitoring 

19 and evaluation policies of their respective agencies, the 

20 Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall 

21 develop a plan for monitoring and independent evaluation 

22 of programs, projects, and activities carried out under this 

23 Act. The plan shall— 

24 (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

25 methodologies to focus on learning, accountability, 


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1 and policymaking, choosing from among a wide vari2 ety of qualitative, quantitative, summative, and 

3 formative methods common in the field of social sci4 entific inquiry, including impact evaluations; and 

5 (2) be included in the implementation plan re6 quired under section 101(c). 

7 (d) RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec8 retary of State and the Administrator of the United States 

9 Agency for International Development shall— 

10 (1) produce original research or analysis of ef11 fective interventions to prevent or respond to vio12 lence against women and girls internationally; 

13 (2) collect and analyze new or existing data on 

14 the scope and extent of all forms of violence against 

15 women and girls internationally, including under 

16 documented forms of violence and violence against 

17 marginalized groups; 

18 (3) conduct research on effective interventions 

19 to respond to violence against women and girls inter20 nationally, including efforts to scale up effective pro21 gramming; and 

22 (4) support systemic data collection using inter23 nationally comparable indicators, norms, and meth24 odologies for measuring the scope, prevalence, and 


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1 incidence of violence against women and girls inter2 nationally. 

3 TITLE II—OVERSIGHT AND 

4 ACCOUNTABILITY 

5 SEC. 201. OFFICE OF GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 

7 establish in the Office of the Secretary of the Department 

8 of State the Office of Global Women’s Issues. The Office 

9 shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global 

10 Women’s Issues, who shall be appointed by the President, 

11 by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The 

12 Ambassador-at-Large shall report directly to the Secretary 

13 and shall have the rank and status of Ambassador-at14 Large. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—In addition to the duties described in 

16 subsection (c) and duties determined by the Secretary of 

17 State, the Ambassador-at-Large shall coordinate efforts of 

18 the United States Government as directed by the Sec19 retary regarding approaches that promote equality and ad20 vance the status of women and girls in United States for21 eign policy. 

22 (c) DUTIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Ambassador-at-Large— 

24 (A) in consultation with the Senior Coordi25 nator, shall direct activities, policies, programs, 


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1 and funding relating to gender equality and the 

2 advancement of women and girls internation3 ally, including those intended to prevent and re4 spond to violence against women and girls, for 

5 all bureaus and offices of the Department of 

6 State and in the international programs of all 

7 other Federal agencies; 

8 (B) shall actively promote and advance the 

9 integration of gender analysis into the pro10 grams, structures, processes, and capacities of 

11 bureaus and offices of the Department of State 

12 and in the international programs of other Fed13 eral agencies; 

14 (C) shall direct United States Government 

15 resources, as appropriate, to respond to needs 

16 for promoting gender equality and the em17 powerment of women in United States Govern18 ment foreign policies and international pro19 grams, including to prevent and respond to vio20 lence against women and girls internationally; 

21 (D) may design, support, and implement 

22 activities regarding empowerment of women 

23 internationally, including for the prevention of 

24 and response to violence against women and 

25 girls internationally; 


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1 (E) shall conduct regular consultation with 

2 civil society organizations working to prevent 

3 and respond to violence against women and 

4 girls internationally; 

5 (F) shall ensure that programs, projects, 

6 and activities designed to prevent and respond 

7 to violence against women and girls internation8 ally are subject to rigorous monitoring and eval9 uation, and that there is a uniform set of indi10 cators and standards for such monitoring and 

11 evaluation that is used across all Federal agen12 cies; 

13 (G) shall serve as the principal advisor to 

14 the Secretary of State regarding gender equal15 ity, women’s empowerment, and violence 

16 against women and girls as a foreign policy 

17 matter; and 

18 (H) is authorized to represent the United 

19 States in diplomatic and multilateral fora on 

20 matters relevant to the status of women and 

21 girls, including violence against women and 

22 girls internationally. 

23 (2) INFORMATION SHARING AND TRANS24 PARENCY.—The Office— 


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1 (A) shall be the central repository of data 

2 on all United States programs, projects, and ac3 tivities that relate to prevention and response to 

4 violence against women and girls; and 

5 (B) shall produce a full accounting of 

6 United States Government spending on such 

7 programs, projects, and activities. 

8 SEC. 202. SENIOR COORDINATOR FOR GENDER EQUALITY 

9 AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

11 United States Agency for International Development the 

12 position of Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and 

13 Women’s Empowerment. The Senior Coordinator shall— 

14 (1) report to the Administrator of the United 

15 States Agency for International Development; and 

16 (2) conduct the activities of the Administrator 

17 under this Act. 

18 (b) DUTIES.—The Senior Coordinator— 

19 (1) in consultation with the Ambassador-at20 Large, shall direct activities, policies, programs, and 

21 funding of the United States Agency for Inter22 national Development relating to gender equality 

23 and women’s empowerment, including those intended 

24 to prevent and respond to violence against women 

25 and girls; 


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1 (2) shall actively promote and advance the inte2 gration of gender analysis into the programs, struc3 tures, processes, and capacities of all bureaus and 

4 offices of the United States Agency for International 

5 Development as required by the Agency’s Gender 

6 Equality and Female Empowerment Policy; 

7 (3) shall direct United States Agency for Inter8 national Development resources for gender equality 

9 and women’s empowerment, including to prevent and 

10 respond to violence against women and girls inter11 nationally; 

12 (4) may design, support, and implement activi13 ties led by the United States Agency for Inter14 national Development regarding gender equality and 

15 women’s empowerment, including for the prevention 

16 and response to violence against women and girls 

17 internationally; 

18 (5) shall conduct regular consultation with civil 

19 society organizations working to prevent and re20 spond to violence against women and girls inter21 nationally; 

22 (6) shall serve as the principal advisor to the 

23 Administrator regarding gender equality, women’s 

24 empowerment, and violence against women and girls; 

25 and 


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1 (7) shall track and analyze monitoring and eval2 uation data and findings on international prevention 

3 and response programs of the United States Agency 

4 for International Development, consistent with 

5 Agency-wide monitoring and evaluation activities, to 

6 assist in the preparation of the strategy developed 

7 under section 101(a). 

8 SEC. 203. BRIEFING AND ASSESSMENT. 

9 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact10 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Ambas11 sador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall provide, 

12 to the appropriate congressional committees— 

13 (1) a briefing on international violence against 

14 women and girls prevention and response strategies, 

15 programming, and associated outcomes; and 

16 (2) an assessment of human and financial re17 sources necessary to fulfill the purposes and duties 

18 under this Act. 

19 SEC. 204. ADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND 

20 GIRLS IN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, PEACE21 KEEPING, CONFLICT, AND POSTCONFLICT 

22 SETTINGS. 

23 (a) ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

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1 trator of the United States Agency for International De2 velopment shall ensure that— 

3 (1) bilateral and multilateral assistance made 

4 available for humanitarian relief, conflict mitigation, 

5 and post-conflict reconstruction including funds 

6 made available through Safe from the Start and 

7 other programs and efforts— 

8 (A) prevents and responds to violence 

9 against women and girls from the very onset of 

10 and throughout a crisis; 

11 (B) builds the capacity of humanitarian 

12 actors, including multilateral agencies and those 

13 leading relevant humanitarian cluster responses 

14 and Areas of Responsibility (AOR), such as the 

15 GBV AOR; 

16 (C) builds the capacity of local partners to 

17 address the special protection needs of women 

18 and children; 

19 (D) supports survivors of violence through 

20 education, essential medical and psychosocial 

21 assistance, trauma counseling, family and com22 munity reinsertion and reunification, and eco23 nomic opportunity programs; and 

24 (E) provides legal services for women and 

25 girls who are victims of violence; 


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1 (2) specialists in violence against women and 

2 girls are designated and deployed, as appropriate, as 

3 an integral part of Disaster Assistance Response 

4 Teams to ensure the integration of prevention and 

5 response to violence against women and girls inter6 nationally in strategies and programming; and 

7 (3) contractors, grantees, and governments that 

8 carry out programs with United States assistance— 

9 (A) train humanitarian workers in pre10 venting and responding to violence against 

11 women and girls, including in the use of mecha12 nisms to report violence against women and 

13 girls; 

14 (B) conduct appropriate public outreach to 

15 make known to the host community the mecha16 nisms to report violence against women and 

17 girls; and 

18 (C) promptly and appropriately respond to 

19 reports of violence against women and girls and 

20 treat survivors in accordance with best practices 

21 regarding confidentiality. 

22 (b) EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO CREDIBLE REPORTS

23 OF CRITICAL OR WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AGAINST

24 WOMEN AND GIRLS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act2 ing through the heads of relevant bureaus and of3 fices of the Department of State, shall— 

4 (A) identify critical or widespread incidents 

5 of violence against women and girls in situa6 tions of armed conflict when such incidents 

7 occur, through consultation with other Federal 

8 departments and agencies, the United Nations, 

9 international organizations, and nongovern10 mental organizations; 

11 (B) determine emergency response meas12 ures not later than 45 days after such identi13 fication; and 

14 (C) brief Congress, upon request, on the 

15 implementation of such emergency response 

16 measures and outcomes not later than 90 days 

17 after such determination. 

18 (2) CONTENT.—The emergency measures devel19 oped under paragraph (1) shall include a description 

20 of bilateral diplomatic efforts with— 

21 (A) the government of the country in 

22 which the violence is occurring; 

23 (B) governments in the region in which the 

24 violence is occurring; and 


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1 (C) other donor governments. 

Æ 


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