II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 765 

To improve United States consideration of, and strategic support for, programs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence from the onset 

of humanitarian emergencies and to build the capacity of humanitarian 

actors to address the immediate and long-term challenges resulting from 

such violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. ROSEN, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. COONS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To improve United States consideration of, and strategic 

support for, programs to prevent and respond to genderbased violence from the onset of humanitarian emergencies and to build the capacity of humanitarian actors 

to address the immediate and long-term challenges resulting from such violence, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keeping Women and 

3 Girls Safe from the Start Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Displaced and stateless people and refugees, 

7 particularly women and girls, in conflict settings, 

8 natural disasters, and other humanitarian emer9 gencies, often face extreme violence and threats of 

10 violence, including— 

11 (A) rape and sexual assault; 

12 (B) domestic or intimate partner violence; 

13 (C) child, early, and forced marriage; 

14 (D) trafficking for the purposes of sexual 

15 exploitation and forced labor; 

16 (E) harmful traditional practices, such as 

17 female genital mutilation or cutting; and 

18 (F) harassment, exploitation, and abuse by 

19 humanitarian personnel. 

20 (2) Gender-based violence increases during hu21 manitarian emergencies and violent acts, such as in22 timate partner violence and child marriage, are often 

23 exacerbated during times of crisis. 

24 (3) Nearly 1 in 5 women affected by a humani25 tarian emergency report experiencing sexual violence 

26 during such emergency. 


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1 (4) During the COVID–19 pandemic, the risk 

2 of domestic violence, child marriage, trafficking, and 

3 other forms of gender-based violence and abuse has 

4 increased and compounds the risk displaced women 

5 and girls face in emergencies. 

6 (5) Survivors of gender-based violence in hu7 manitarian emergencies require— 

8 (A) immediate, life-saving assistance, in9 cluding access to medical and psychosocial serv10 ices, such as post-rape care; 

11 (B) access to justice and community-level 

12 reintegration; and 

13 (C) opportunities to earn livelihoods, build 

14 skills, and receive an education. 

15 (6) Early medical interventions after incidents 

16 of rape can help to prevent infections, HIV, and 

17 pregnancy. 

18 (7) Empowering women to assume leadership 

19 roles in delivering humanitarian assistance and ef20 fectively engaging local women’s rights organizations 

21 to provide life-saving assistance is critical to sup22 porting survivors or those at risk of gender-based vi23 olence during humanitarian crises. 

24 (8) Between 2016 and 2018, inclusive, funding 

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1 resented just 0.12 percent of all funding for humani2 tarian response activities. 

3 (9) During 2013, the international community 

4 launched the Global Call to Action on Protection 

5 from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies initia6 tive to improve prevention and responses to gender7 based violence in humanitarian settings. 

8 (10) The United States demonstrated its com9 mitment to this initiative by implementing Safe from 

10 the Start, under the direction of the Department of 

11 State and the United States Agency for Inter12 national Development (USAID)— 

13 (A) to reduce the incidence of gender-based 

14 violence; and 

15 (B) to ensure quality services for survivors 

16 from the very onset of emergencies through 

17 timely and effective humanitarian action. 

18 (11) The United States has further dem19 onstrated its commitment to prevent and respond to 

20 gender-based violence globally through the following 

21 documents: 

22 (A) The United States Strategy to Prevent 

23 and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Glob24 ally, published by USAID in August 2012. 


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1 (B) The United States Global Strategy to 

2 Empower Adolescent Girls, adopted by the De3 partment of State in March 2016. 

4 (C) The U.S. Strategy To Support Women 

5 and Girls at Risk From Violent Extremism and 

6 Conflict, submitted to Congress in October 

7 2018. 

8 (D) The United States Strategy on 

9 Women, Peace, and Security, released by the 

10 President in June 2019. 

11 (E) Advancing Protection and Care for 

12 Children in Adversity: A U.S. Government 

13 Strategy for International Assistance (2019– 

14 2023), posted online by USAID in July 2019. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY OBJECTIVES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is in the national interest of 

17 the United States to take effective action— 

18 (1) to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender19 based violence in humanitarian emergencies around 

20 the world; 

21 (2) to promote respect for basic human rights 

22 and gender equality; and 

23 (3) to support economic growth, improved pub24 lic health, and peace and stability around the world. 


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1 (b) PROGRAMS, ACTIVITIES, AND INITIATIVES.—The 

2 policy objectives set forth in subsection (a) are reinforced 

3 through programs, activities, and initiatives that— 

4 (1) build the capacity of humanitarian actors 

5 responding to crises, including the capacity of gov6 ernments, international organizations, international 

7 nongovernmental organizations, faith-based and non8 faith-based organizations, and local nongovernmental 

9 groups (especially women-led organizations), to pre10 vent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence; 

11 (2) systematically integrate and coordinate ef12 forts to prevent gender-based violence, including 

13 by— 

14 (A) incorporating gender-based violence 

15 risk mitigation interventions across all humani16 tarian sectors; and 

17 (B) promoting support for, and collabora18 tion with, gender-based violence response ex19 perts; 

20 (3) support activities that— 

21 (A) prevent and mitigate the impacts of 

22 gender-based violence in humanitarian settings; 

23 and 

24 (B) empower survivors or those at risk of 

25 gender-based violence; 


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1 (4) improve the delivery and quality of services 

2 for survivors and at-risk populations of gender-based 

3 violence, including— 

4 (A) access to medical and psychosocial 

5 services that comply with international stand6 ards; and 

7 (B) service delivery to hard-to-reach popu8 lations; 

9 (5) ensure protection against and accountability 

10 for sexual exploitation and abuse, by and against hu11 manitarian personnel; 

12 (6) advance the active leadership and participa13 tion of women and girls impacted by humanitarian 

14 crises, including in the design, implementation, and 

15 evaluation of programs and other activities; 

16 (7) ensure, when providing assistance to inter17 national and nongovernmental organizations in a hu18 manitarian response, that particular emphasis be 

19 given to such organizations led by women impacted 

20 by the humanitarian crisis; and 

21 (8) promote transparency and accountability of 

22 United States Government programs and humani23 tarian implementers’ efforts related to preventing 

24 and responding to gender-based violence in humani25 tarian response. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZED SAFE FROM THE START ACTIVITIES. 

2 The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad3 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

4 Development, shall carry out Safe from the Start activities 

5 that accomplish the policy objectives set forth in section 

6 3, including— 

7 (1) training and capacity building for humani8 tarian personnel and other humanitarian first re9 sponders— 

10 (A) to identify and prevent gender-based 

11 violence in humanitarian settings; and 

12 (B) to support survivors and those at risk 

13 through best practices, including— 

14 (i) established international minimum 

15 standards for gender-based violence pre16 vention and response; and 

17 (ii) referrals to qualified gender-based 

18 violence responders; 

19 (2) the deployment of, and support for, skilled 

20 gender advisors and female humanitarian aid work21 ers that comply with international standards, includ22 ing through the Gender-Based Violence Area of Re23 sponsibility coordinated by the United Nations Pop24 ulation Fund; 

25 (3) the development of technical skills of local 

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1 tors, such as women impacted by the humanitarian 

2 crisis, including skills related to advocacy, moni3 toring, data collection, evaluation, and communica4 tions; 

5 (4) performing on-the-ground gender analyses 

6 and rapid gender assessments; 

7 (5) the deployment of international minimum 

8 standards, guidelines, best practices, and other tools 

9 to improve the integration of efforts to identify, pre10 vent, and address gender-based violence across all 

11 humanitarian assistance programs and initiatives, in 

12 consultation with international and local nongovern13 mental organizations and other gender-based vio14 lence experts; 

15 (6) promoting existing international minimum 

16 standards, indicators, and metrics to ensure appro17 priate response and assess the adequacy of interven18 tions relating to gender-based violence; 

19 (7) efforts to improve the quality and avail20 ability of services for survivors and those at risk of 

21 gender-based violence, including medical and psycho22 social care and hygiene and dignity kits; 

23 (8) expanding and improving empowerment ac24 tivities, including— 


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1 (A) women’s and girls’ economic opportu2 nities and livelihoods; 

3 (B) social network building; 

4 (C) education and skills; and 

5 (D) leadership roles and participation in 

6 humanitarian response; and 

7 (9) establishing accountability mechanisms and 

8 monitoring and reporting tools to prevent and re9 spond to incidents of sexual or other gender-based 

10 exploitation or abuse perpetrated by personnel deliv11 ering humanitarian assistance and associated per12 sonnel. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap15 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

17 Senate; 

18 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

19 Senate; 

20 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 House of Representatives; and 

22 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

23 House of Representatives. 

24 (b) PROGRESS REPORT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

3 thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordination 

4 with the Administrator of the United States Agency 

5 for International Development, shall submit a report 

6 to the appropriate congressional committees that de7 scribes the progress made by the United States, in 

8 conjunction with partners, such as the United Na9 tions High Commissioner for Refugees, the United 

10 Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organi11 zation, the World Food Program, the United Na12 tions Children’s Fund, and the International Organi13 zation for Migration, to prevent, mitigate, and ad14 dress gender-based violence in humanitarian emer15 gencies. 

16 (2) REPORT ELEMENTS.—The report required 

17 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 (A)(i) an analysis of data and research re19 garding the key drivers of gender-based violence 

20 in humanitarian emergencies; 

21 (ii) the needs and services required by sur22 vivors or those at risk; and 

23 (iii) successful program models to address, 

24 prevent, and mitigate such violence; and 


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1 (B) a detailed description of the programs, 

2 diplomatic efforts, and other activities under3 taken by the United States to implement Safe 

4 from the Start, in accordance with section 4, in5 cluding— 

6 (i) a description of the steps taken— 

7 (I) to integrate prevention, miti8 gation, and respond to gender-based 

9 violence into humanitarian assistance; 

10 (II) to develop humanitarian 

11 standards; and 

12 (III) to respond to specific hu13 manitarian crises; 

14 (ii) a description of the progress made 

15 toward achieving specific objectives, 

16 metrics, and indicators for implementation 

17 of Safe from the Start programming, 

18 disaggregated, as appropriate, by gender, 

19 age, and type of violence; 

20 (iii) a list of the all projects funded or 

21 supported through Safe from the Start 

22 programming, with specific details on lev23 els of funding or assistance and impacts of 

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1 priate, by gender, age, and type of vio2 lence; 

3 (iv) an assessment of the extent to 

4 which consultations with nongovernmental 

5 organizations, including local, national, 

6 and intergovernmental actors have led to 

7 the development of programs, standards, 

8 and interventions to combat gender-based 

9 violence; 

10 (v) a list of the policies or programs 

11 implemented by international or multilat12 eral organizations receiving funding from 

13 the United States Government— 

14 (I) to improve capacity and inter15 nal protocols to identify signs of gen16 der-based violence, including sexual 

17 exploitation and abuse; and 

18 (II) to integrate initiatives to 

19 prevent and respond to gender-based 

20 violence into programs of the organi21 zation; and 

22 (vi) a description of any diplomatic 

23 action taken bilaterally, multilaterally, or 

24 with international organizations to encour25 age the governments of other countries and 


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1 international organizations to adopt poli2 cies and support efforts to prevent and re3 spond to gender-based violence in emer4 gency situations in alignment with the 

5 Global Call to Action on Protection from 

6 Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies. 

7 (3) FORM.—The report required under para8 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

9 but may include a classified annex. The unclassified 

10 portion of such report shall be concurrently pub11 lished on a publicly available website of the Depart12 ment of State. 

13 (c) BUDGET REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 

14 the President submits each budget to Congress under sec15 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, the Director 

16 of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit to 

17 the appropriate congressional committees a budget cross18 cut report that— 

19 (1) displays the budget proposed, including any 

20 planned interagency or intra-agency transfer, for 

21 each of the principal Federal agencies that will be 

22 carrying out activities through the Safe from the 

23 Start programming focus described in section 4 in 

24 the fiscal year for which such budget is submitted; 


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1 (2) separately reports the amount of funding to 

2 be provided pertaining to the Safe from the Start 

3 strategy under subsection (b), to the extent such 

4 plans are available; and 

5 (3) identifies, at the account level to the extent 

6 practicable, all Federal assistance and research ex7 penditures for Safe from the Start activities in each 

8 of the 5 previous fiscal years. 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this Act the greater of— 

12 (1) such sums as may be necessary for each fis13 cal year to carry out this Act; or 

14 (2) the amount expended by the Department of 

15 State during fiscal year 2018 to carry out Safe from 

16 the Start activities. 

Æ 


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