III 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 393 

Designating March 8, 2006, as ‘‘International Women’s Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2006 

Mr. BIDEN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Designating March 8, 2006, as ‘‘International Women’s 

Day’’. 

Whereas all over the world women are contributing to the 

growth of economies, participating in the fields of diplomacy and politics, and improving the quality of the lives 

of their families, communities, and nations; 

Whereas discrimination continues to deny women full political 

and economic equality and is often the basis for violations of basic human rights against women; 

Whereas the health and life of women and girls worldwide 

continues to be endangered by violence that is directed at 

them simply because they are women; 

Whereas worldwide violence against women includes rape, 

genital mutilation, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, honor killings, human trafficking, dowry-reVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:06 Mar 09, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR393.IS SR393

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lated violence, female infanticide, sex selection abortion, 

forced pregnancy, forced sterilization, and forced abortion; 

Whereas at least 1 in 3 females worldwide has been beaten 

or sexually abused in her lifetime; 

Whereas 1 in 4 women in the United States has been raped 

or physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some 

point in her life; 

Whereas 20 percent to 50 percent of women worldwide experience some degree of domestic violence during marriage; 

Whereas, on average, 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States every day; 

Whereas it is estimated that 1 in 5 adolescent girls in the 

United States becomes a victim of physical or sexual 

abuse, or both, in a dating relationship; 

Whereas an estimated 135,000,000 women and girls of the 

world have undergone genital mutilation, and 2,000,000 

girls are at risk of mutilation each year; 

Whereas worldwide, women account for 1⁄2 of all cases of the 

human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘HIV/ 

AIDS’’); 

Whereas young women in Africa are 3 times more likely to 

contract HIV/AIDS than men; 

Whereas worldwide sexual violence, including marital rape, 

has been cited as a major cause of the rapid spread of 

HIV/AIDS among women; 

Whereas between 75 percent and 80 percent of the 

27,000,000 refugees and internally displaced persons of 

the world are women and children; 


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Whereas illegal trafficking for forced labor, domestic servitude, or sexual exploitation victimizes 2,000,000 to 

4,000,000 women and girls throughout the world each 

year; 

Whereas 2⁄3 of the nearly 1,000,000,000 illiterate individuals 

of the world are women; 

Whereas 2⁄3 of children worldwide who are denied primary 

education are girls; 

Whereas throughout the world, girls are less likely to complete school than boys; 

Whereas that educational failure has real consequences for 

the global economy and the security of the United States, 

and especially for the millions of girls with limitless potential who continue to lose the chance to discover their 

worth and importance as global citizens; 

Whereas girls who are educated are more likely to enjoy 

healthy and stable families, lower mortality rates, higher 

nutrition levels, delayed sexual activity, less chance of 

contracting HIV/AIDS, and less chance of having unwanted pregnancies; 

Whereas it is estimated that women and girls make up more 

than 70 percent of the poorest people in the world; 

Whereas in most nations, women work approximately twice 

the amount of unpaid time that men do; 

Whereas women work 2⁄3 of the working hours of the world, 

and produce 1⁄2 of the food in the world, yet earn only 

10 percent of the income in the world, and own less than 

1 percent of the property in the world; 

Whereas rural women produce more than 55 percent of all 

food grown in developing countries; 


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Whereas women worldwide still earn less, own less property, 

and have less access to education, employment, and 

health care than do men; 

Whereas there are 82,500,000 mothers of all ages in the 

United States; 

Whereas approximately 3 in 10 United States households are 

maintained by women with no husband present; 

Whereas women comprise almost 15 percent of the active 

duty, reserve, and guard units of the Armed Forces; 

Whereas it is not enough to say women deserve a voice in politics; 

Whereas nations should take steps to ensure the full participation and representation of women in their conferences 

and committees, plenaries, and parliaments; 

Whereas social investment, particularly investments in women 

and girls, should be an integral part of foreign policy; 

Whereas the dedication and success of those working all over 

the world to end violence against women and girls and 

fighting for equality should be recognized; 

Whereas special recognition is owed to 10 women fighting to 

make a difference in their communities and around the 

globe, including the following: Brigadier General Sheila 

R. Baxter, Commander, Madigan Army Medical Center, 

Western Regional Medical Command; Sheryl Cates, Executive Director of the National Domestic Violence Hotline 

and the Texas Council on Family Violence; Lora Jo Foo, 

Civil rights, labor activist, and Managing Attorney at the 

Asian Law Caucus; Salma Hayek, Actress and Domestic 

Violence Advocate; Asma Jehangir, Pakistani human 

rights activist, author, and lawyer; Liz Lerman, Founder 

and leader of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange; Wangari 


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Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist 

and founder of the Green Belt Movement; Kavita N. 

Ramdas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global 

Women’s Fund; Bernice Johnson Reagon, singer, scholar, 

activist, and founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock; and 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, newly-elected President of Liberia; 

Whereas March 8 became known as ‘‘International Women’s 

Day’’ during the last century, and is a day on which people, often divided by ethnicity, language, culture, and income, come together to celebrate a common struggle for 

equality, justice, and peace for women; and 

Whereas the people of the United States should be encouraged to participate in ‘‘International Women’s Day’’: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates March 8, 2006, as ‘‘International 

3 Women’s Day’’; 

4 (2) reaffirms the commitment of the Senate 

5 to— 

6 (A) improve access to quality health care; 

7 (B) end and prevent violence against 

8 women, including the trafficking of women and 

9 girls worldwide, and ensure that the criminals 

10 who engage in those activities are brought to 

11 justice; 

12 (C) end discrimination and increase par13 ticipation of women in decision-making posi14 tions in the government and private sectors; 


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1 (D) extend full economic opportunities to 

2 women, including access to microfinance and 

3 microenterprise; and 

4 (E) strengthen the role of women as 

5 agents of peace, because women are among the 

6 best emissaries when it comes to easing reli7 gious, racial, and ethnic tensions, crossing cul8 tural divides, and reducing violence in areas of 

9 war and conflict; and 

10 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

11 to observe ‘‘International Women’s Day’’ with ap12 propriate programs and activities. 

Æ 


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