I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5034 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

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

SCHULTZ, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, 

Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DINGELL, 

Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. ESTY of Connecticut, 

Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. HECK, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

KEATING, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KIHUEN, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, 

Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PINGREE, 

Mr. POCAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. SOTO, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TITUS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILSON of Florida, 

and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To prevent international violence against women, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 2018’’. 

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. 

13 (2) Up to 70 percent of women in some coun14 tries report experiencing gender-based violence at 

15 some point in their lives. 


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1 (3) Intimate partner violence is the most preva2 lent form of violence against women, preventing 

3 them from playing more active roles in the social, 

4 economic, and political development of their commu5 nities. 

6 (4) Sexual violence among adolescents and pre7 adolescents is alarmingly high. National surveys in 

8 Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Haiti 

9 have found that between 28 and 38 percent of girls 

10 and between 9 and 18 percent of boys report experi11 encing sexual violence before reaching 18 years of 

12 age. 

13 (5) Adult male respondents in six countries who 

14 had experienced violence as children were signifi15 cantly more likely to report perpetrating intimate 

16 partner violence themselves according to the Inter17 national Men and Gender Equality Survey dataset. 

18 (6) Gender-based violence harms economies and 

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

20 striking statistics document prevalent forms of gen21 der-based violence globally that affect the world of 

22 work. Worldwide, women are concentrated in low23 wage, insecure jobs in workplaces where they lack 

24 bargaining power, protections against gender-based 

25 violence, safe and confidential reporting systems, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Feb 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5034.IH H5034

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1 course to justice, and access to legal, medical, and 

2 psychosocial services. 

3 (7) Women living in poverty are particularly 

4 vulnerable to gender-based violence. Lack of eco5 nomic opportunities often compel women to use des6 perate and dangerous means to provide for them7 selves and their families, risking significant exposure 

8 to sexual exploitation and abuse. These women often 

9 cannot afford critical social and medical services. 

10 (8) Research conducted in India, Colombia, 

11 South Africa, and Uganda indicates that when 

12 women have greater control of assets, they are less 

13 likely to experience intimate partner violence. Addi14 tionally, when women participate in the economy 

15 they are able to develop a wider support network, 

16 which allows them to more easily escape intimate 

17 partner violence. 

18 (9) Gender-based violence impacts livelihoods 

19 and food security by reducing work capacity and 

20 productivity, including the ability to grow food for 

21 consumption. Studies have shown that women af22 fected by gender-based violence are exposed to ill23 nesses and injuries that hamper their ability to work 

24 productively and care for their families. Diminished 


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1 food production consequently increases hunger and 

2 women’s vulnerability to further violence. 

3 (10) Country studies indicate that the risk of 

4 HIV among women who have experienced violence 

5 may be up to three times higher than among those 

6 who have not experience violence. The World Health 

7 Organization found that women who experience inti8 mate partner violence are at more than 50 percent 

9 greater risk of HIV infection, and in some instances 

10 their risk of HIV infection increases four-fold. 

11 Women living with HIV are more likely to experi12 ence violence than other women, and fear of violence 

13 can prevent women from accessing HIV/AIDS infor14 mation and receiving treatment and counseling. 

15 (11) Addressing gender norms and inequities is 

16 essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access 

17 to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for 

18 women and men. The President’s Emergency Plan 

19 for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports significant 

20 work in the field to incorporate efforts to prevent 

21 and respond to gender-based violence into existing 

22 HIV treatment and prevention programs. 

23 (12) Prevalence of sexual and physical violence 

24 is higher among persons with disabilities, particu25 larly for adolescents and intimate partners with disVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Feb 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5034.IH H5034

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1 abilities, and for men and women with intellectual 

2 impairments living in institutions. The World Health 

3 Organization reports that rates of gender-based vio4 lence are between 4 and 10 times greater among 

5 persons with disabilities compared to non-disabled 

6 persons. 

7 (13) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women 

8 and girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict set9 tings, and natural disasters face extreme violence 

10 and threats, including— 

11 (A) being forced to exchange sex for food 

12 and humanitarian supplies; and 

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

14 exploitation, and abuse. 

15 (14) Rape and sexual assault against women 

16 and girls are used to torture, intimidate, and ter17 rorize communities. Rape and sexual assault are 

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

19 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Syria, Af20 ghanistan, Colombia, and South Sudan. 

21 (15) Child and forced marriage of girls— 

22 (A) is a harmful practice that deprives 

23 girls of their dignity and rights and creates bar24 riers to development for communities and coun25 tries; 


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1 (B) is projected to affect more than 

2 140,000,000 girls who will become brides be3 tween 2011 and 2020; 

4 (C) can prematurely end girls’ education, 

5 increase vulnerability to gender-based violence, 

6 and significantly raise the risk of maternal and 

7 infant morbidity or mortality, including the risk 

8 of obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted dis9 eases, including HIV/AIDS; and 

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

11 educational or employment opportunities for 

12 girls, a lack of legal policies and enforcement of 

13 laws, and religious, cultural, and social factors 

14 related to girls’ perceived lack of value, factors 

15 which become particularly acute in conflict and 

16 disaster settings where fears of sexual violence 

17 and overstretched coping mechanisms often 

18 drive child and forced marriage. 

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

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

21 and 15 years of age and has impacted more than 

22 125,000,000 girls and women who are alive today. 

23 FGM/C can cause long-term health problems, includ24 ing infertility, complications in childbirth, and in25 creased risk of newborn deaths. 


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1 (17) World Bank data shows that gender in2 equality directly corresponds to increased levels of 

3 political and economic instability within states. Gen4 der-based violence impedes women’s meaningful par5 ticipation in social, political, and economic spheres, 

6 which is essential to the stability and democratiza7 tion of a country. Since women disproportionately 

8 experience gender-based violence during conflict and 

9 post-conflict reconstruction, they can play a pivotal 

10 role in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict, 

11 and countering extremism. 

12 (18) Gender-based violence is a contributing 

13 factor to human trafficking. Experts in the field 

14 have reported that women and girls who have experi15 enced gender-based violence and live in societies that 

16 tolerate severe gender discrimination appear to be 

17 more vulnerable to being trafficked. Comprehensive 

18 efforts to reduce human trafficking must include ef19 forts to prevent and respond to gender-based vio20 lence due to the intertwined relationship of the two 

21 crimes. 

22 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

23 It is the policy of the United States— 

24 (1) to take effective action to prevent and re25 spond to violence against women and girls around 


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

2 promote gender equality, economic growth, and im3 proved public health; 

4 (2) to systematically integrate and coordinate 

5 efforts to prevent and respond to violence against 

6 women and girls internationally into United States 

7 foreign policy and foreign assistance programs, in8 cluding peace-building efforts and humanitarian re9 lief and recovery; 

10 (3) to support and build local capacity in devel11 oping countries, including the capacity of govern12 ments at all levels and nongovernmental organiza13 tions, especially women-led organizations to prevent 

14 and respond to violence against women and girls; 

15 (4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and col16 laborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental 

17 partners with demonstrated experience in preventing 

18 and responding to violence against women and girls, 

19 including faith-based organizations and women-led 

20 organizations; 

21 (5) to employ a multisectoral approach to pre22 venting and responding to violence against women 

23 and girls internationally, including activities in the 

24 economic, education, health, nutrition, legal, and ju25 dicial sectors; 


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

2 the family, community, local, national, and inter3 national levels, to prevent and respond to violence 

4 against women and girls around the world; 

5 (7) to enhance training by United States per6 sonnel of professional foreign military and police 

7 forces and judicial officials, including specific and 

8 thorough instruction on preventing and responding 

9 to violence against women and girls around the 

10 world; 

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

12 essential element of making sustained reductions in 

13 violence against women and girls; 

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

15 marriage as an important part of United States 

16 Government efforts to prevent violence against girls 

17 and promote gender equality and global health; 

18 (10) to require that all United States contrac19 tors and grantees establish appropriate policies and 

20 take effective measures to prevent violence against 

21 women and girls and sexual exploitation and abuse 

22 within their workforce; 

23 (11) to exert sustained international leadership 

24 to prevent and respond to violence against women 


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1 and girls, including in bilateral and multilateral fora; 

2 and 

3 (12) to implement the United States Strategy 

4 to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence 

5 Globally. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE.—The term ‘‘Am9 bassador-at-Large’’ means the Ambassador-at-Large 

10 for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of 

11 State appointed by the President pursuant to section 

12 201(a). 

13 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT14 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com15 mittees’’ means— 

16 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

17 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

18 of Representatives; and 

19 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

20 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 Senate. 

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

23 analysis’’ means the examination of the differential 

24 impact of policies on different genders. 


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

2 ‘‘gender-based violence’’— 

3 (A) means any harmful threat or act di4 rected at an individual or group based on actual 

5 or perceived biological sex, gender identity or 

6 expression, sexual orientation, or lack of adher7 ence to varying socially constructed norms 

8 around masculinity and femininity; and 

9 (B) includes the use or threat of physical, 

10 psychological, sexual, economic, legal, political, 

11 social and other forms of control or abuse. 

12 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of13 fice of Global Women’s Issues established by the 

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

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

16 Coordinator’’ means the Senior Coordinator for Gen17 der Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the 

18 United States Agency for International Development 

19 appointed pursuant to section 202. 

20 (7) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.— 

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

22 (A) means any act of violence against 

23 women or girls that results in, or is likely to re24 sult in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm 

25 or suffering to women or girls, including threats 


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1 of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivations 

2 of liberty, whether occurring in public or private 

3 life; and 

4 (B) includes— 

5 (i) physical, sexual, and psychological 

6 violence occurring in the family, including 

7 battering, sexual abuse of female children 

8 in the household, dowry-related violence, 

9 marital rape, female genital cutting and 

10 mutilation, forced child marriage, and 

11 other harmful practices to women and 

12 girls, nonspousal violence, and violence re13 lated to exploitation; 

14 (ii) physical, sexual, and psychological 

15 violence occurring within the general com16 munity, including rape, sexual abuse, sex17 ual harassment and intimidation at work, 

18 in educational institutions and elsewhere, 

19 trafficking in women and girls, and forced 

20 prostitution; and 

21 (iii) physical, sexual, and psycho22 logical violence perpetrated or condoned by 

23 the state, wherever it occurs. 


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1 TITLE I—STRATEGY, POLICY, 

2 AND PROGRAMS 

3 SEC. 101. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND RE4 SPOND TO GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE GLOB5 ALLY. 

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

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 4 years there8 after, the Ambassador-at-Large, in consultation with the 

9 Senior Coordinator, shall— 

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

11 society, including service providers, a United States 

12 global strategy to prevent and respond to violence 

13 against women and girls, using evidence-based inter14 ventions and standards that address the root causes 

15 of, and provide comprehensive responses to, violence 

16 against women and girls; 

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

18 the appropriate congressional committees for com19 ment and review; and 

20 (3) make the strategy publicly available on the 

21 Internet. 

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

23 section, the ‘‘United States Strategy to Prevent and Re24 spond to Gender-Based Violence Globally’’, issued in AuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Feb 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5034.IH H5034

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1 gust 2012 and updated in 2016, shall be deemed to fulfill 

2 the initial requirement of subsection (a). 

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

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

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

6 Coordinator, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

7 committees an implementation plan detailing how the 

8 strategy will be implemented in the upcoming 4 fiscal 

9 years, including the budget resources requested, and the 

10 specific activities to be supported, by each Executive agen11 cy under the strategy. 

12 (d) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel13 oping the strategy under subsection (a), the Ambassador14 at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall consult with— 

15 (1) the heads of relevant Federal agencies; 

16 (2) the Senior Policy Operating Group on Traf17 ficking in Persons; and 

18 (3) representatives of civil society, including 

19 nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organi20 zations, multilateral organizations, local and inter21 national civil society groups, and local service pro22 viders and beneficiaries with demonstrated experi23 ence in addressing violence against women and girls 

24 or promoting gender equality internationally. 


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1 (e) CONTENT.—The implementation plan required 

2 under subsection (c) shall— 

3 (1) identify eligible low-income and lower-mid4 dle income countries with significant levels of vio5 lence against women and girls, including within dis6 placed communities, that have the governmental or 

7 nongovernmental organizational capacity to manage 

8 and implement gender-based violence prevention and 

9 response program activities and should, when pos10 sible, be geographically, ethnically, and culturally di11 verse from one another; 

12 (2) select 5 to 20 of the eligible countries iden13 tified under paragraph (1) in which to develop com14 prehensive and holistic individual country plans that 

15 incorporate at least two of the program activities 

16 listed in section 102(b); 

17 (3) assess and describe the current or potential 

18 capacity of the government of each eligible country 

19 selected under paragraph (2) and civil society orga20 nizations in each such eligible country to address 

21 and respond to violence against women and girls; 

22 (4) identify coordination mechanisms with Fed23 eral agencies that— 

24 (A) have existing programs relevant to the 

25 strategy; 


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1 (B) will be involved in new program activi2 ties; and 

3 (C) are engaged in broader United States 

4 strategies around development; 

5 (5) describe the monitoring and evaluation 

6 mechanisms established for each eligible country, 

7 and their intended use in assessing overall progress 

8 in prevention and response; 

9 (6) project general levels of resources needed to 

10 achieve the stated objectives in each eligible country, 

11 including an accounting of— 

12 (A) activities and funding already ex13 pended by the Department of State, the United 

14 States Agency for International Development, 

15 and other Federal agencies, donor country gov16 ernments, and multilateral institutions; and 

17 (B) leveraged private sector resources; 

18 (7) integrate gender analysis into the strategy 

19 for each country; and 

20 (8) include, as appropriate, strategies designed 

21 to accommodate the needs of stateless, disabled, in22 ternally displaced refugees and religious or ethnic 

23 minority women and girls. 


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1 SEC. 102. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES 

2 STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO 

3 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE GLOBALLY. 

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

5 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter6 national Development are authorized to provide assistance 

7 to prevent and respond to violence against women and 

8 girls internationally. 

9 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance 

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

11 each of the countries identified in the strategy required 

12 pursuant to subsection 101(e)(2), two or more of the fol13 lowing program activities: 

14 (1) Increasing legal and judicial protections 

15 by— 

16 (A) supporting programs that strengthen a 

17 coordinated community response to violence 

18 against women and girls, including through co19 ordination between judges, police, prosecutors, 

20 and legal advocates to enhance prospects for 

21 perpetrator accountability; 

22 (B) supporting efforts and providing re23 sources to provide training and technical assist24 ance to police, prosecutors, forensic physicians, 

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1 lawyer advocates and traditional community au2 thorities on violence against women and girls; 

3 (C) supporting efforts to reform and revise 

4 criminal and civil laws to prohibit violence 

5 against women and girls and create account6 ability for perpetrators; 

7 (D) enhancing the capacity of the justice 

8 sector, including keeping official records of all 

9 complaints, collecting and safeguarding evi10 dence, systematizing and tracking data on cases 

11 of violence against women and girls, and under12 taking investigations and evidence gathering ex13 peditiously; 

14 (E) helping women and girls who are vic15 tims of violence gain access to the justice sector 

16 and supporting them throughout the legal proc17 ess, including establishing victim and witness 

18 units for courts and promoting support for sur19 vivor services, including hotlines and shelters; 

20 (F) promoting civil remedies in cases of 

21 domestic violence that— 

22 (i) prioritize victim safety and con23 fidentiality and offender accountability; 

24 (ii) grant women and children re25 straining, protection, or removal orders 


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1 with appropriate criminal sanctions for vio2 lations against perpetrators of violence; 

3 (iii) strengthen and promote women’s 

4 custodial rights over children and protect 

5 children; and 

6 (iv) grant courts authority to provide 

7 specific relief pursuant to a restraining or 

8 removal order, including restitution, spous9 al maintenance, child support, payment of 

10 debt, or return or equitable distribution of 

11 property; 

12 (G) reducing the incidence of violence 

13 against women and girls committed by govern14 ment officials by developing confidential mecha15 nisms for reporting violence against women and 

16 girls committed by government officials and in17 stitutions and developing laws to punish the 

18 perpetrators and remove immunity from state 

19 officials; 

20 (H) promoting broader legal protection for 

21 women and girls against all forms of violence 

22 against women and girls, such as female infan23 ticide and female genital mutilation, and prac24 tices that are associated with higher rates of viVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Feb 22, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5034.IH H5034

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1 olence against women and girls, such as child 

2 and forced marriage; and 

3 (I) increasing the number of women advo4 cates trained to respond to violence against 

5 women and girls at police stations, including 

6 the creation of domestic violence units and in7 creasing the number of women police. 

8 (2) Carrying out health care initiatives, includ9 ing— 

10 (A) promoting the integration of programs 

11 to prevent and respond to violence against 

12 women and girls into existing programs ad13 dressing child survival, women’s health, family 

14 planning, mental health, and HIV/AIDS pre15 vention, care, and treatment; 

16 (B) training of health care providers, in17 cluding traditional birth attendants, on methods 

18 to safely and confidentially assess women and 

19 girls seeking health services for intimate part20 ner, family, and sexual violence; 

21 (C) developing and enforcing national and 

22 operational women’s health, children’s health, 

23 and HIV/AIDS policies that prevent and re24 spond to violence against women and girls, with 


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1 accompanying resources, including through co2 operative efforts with ministries of health; 

3 (D) developing information gathering sys4 tems within the health care sector that, con5 sistent with safety and confidentiality concerns, 

6 collect and compile data on the type of violence 

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

8 victims, and relationship of victims to perpetra9 tors; 

10 (E) working with governments to develop 

11 partnerships with civil society organizations to 

12 create referral networks systems for psycho13 social, legal, economic, or other support serv14 ices; and 

15 (F) integrating screening and assessment 

16 for gender-based violence into HIV/AIDS pro17 gramming and other health programming into 

18 all country operation plans, and increasing 

19 women’s access to information, strategies, and 

20 services to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. 

21 (3) Conducting public awareness programs to 

22 change social norms and attitudes, including— 

23 (A) supporting women survivors of violence 

24 to educate their communities on the impacts of 

25 violence; 


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1 (B) engaging men, including faith and tra2 ditional leaders; 

3 (C) providing funding and programmatic 

4 support for mass media social change cam5 paigns; and 

6 (D) supporting community efforts to 

7 change attitudes about harmful traditional 

8 practices, including child marriage, female gen9 ital mutilation, and so-called ‘‘honor killings’’. 

10 (4) Improving economic opportunities for 

11 women and girls, including— 

12 (A) supporting programs to help women 

13 meet their economic needs and to increase their 

14 economic opportunities, in both rural and urban 

15 areas, including through support for— 

16 (i) the establishment and development 

17 of businesses (micro, small, and medium18 sized enterprises) through access to finan19 cial and nonfinancial services; and 

20 (ii) education, literacy, and numeracy 

21 programs, leadership development and job 

22 skills training, especially in nontraditional 

23 fields and expected growth sectors; 


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1 (B) supporting programs to help increase 

2 property rights, social security, and home own3 ership and land tenure security for women by— 

4 (i) promoting equitable extension of 

5 property and inheritance rights, particu6 larly rights to familial and marital prop7 erty; 

8 (ii) promoting legal literacy, including 

9 among faith and traditional leaders, about 

10 women’s property rights; and 

11 (iii) helping women to make land 

12 claims and protecting women’s existing 

13 claims and advocating for equitable land ti14 tling and registration for women, including 

15 safeguards for women title-holders in the 

16 case of domestic violence disputes; 

17 (C) integrating activities to prevent and re18 spond to violence against women and girls into 

19 existing economic opportunity programs by— 

20 (i) integrating education on violence 

21 against women and girls into women’s 

22 microfinance, microenterprise, and job 

23 skills training programs; and 

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1 tivity to violence against women and girls; 

2 and 

3 (D) addressing violence against women and 

4 girls in the workplace. 

5 (5) Improving educational opportunities for 

6 women and girls, including— 

7 (A) supporting efforts and providing re8 sources to provide training for all teachers and 

9 school administrators on school-related violence, 

10 in particular increasing awareness of violence 

11 against women and girls, and to improve re12 porting, referral, and implementation of codes 

13 of conduct; 

14 (B) working to ensure the safety of girls 

15 during their travel to and from school and on 

16 school grounds; 

17 (C) supporting programs for girls and boys 

18 on the unacceptability of violence against 

19 women and girls; and 

20 (D) conducting national and baseline sur21 veys to collect data on school-related violence 

22 against women and girls. 

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

24 percent of the amount of assistance provided to an eligible 

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1 nity-based nongovernmental or faith-based organizations, 

2 with priority given to nongovernmental organizations led 

3 by women. 

4 SEC. 103. MONITORING THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO 

5 PREVENT AND RESPOND TO GENDER-BASED 

6 VIOLENCE GLOBALLY. 

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

8 section 101(a), the Ambassador-at-Large and Senior Co9 ordinator shall include an analysis of best practices for 

10 preventing and addressing violence against women and 

11 girls internationally, which shall include— 

12 (1) a description of successful efforts by foreign 

13 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern14 mental organizations, educational organizations, and 

15 faith-based organizations in preventing and respond16 ing to violence against women and girls; 

17 (2) recommendations related to best practices, 

18 effective strategies, and improvements to enhance 

19 the impact of prevention and response efforts; and 

20 (3) the impact of activities funded by the strat21 egy in preventing and reducing violence against 

22 women and girls internationally. 

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

24 1961 is amended— 

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


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

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

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

5 and 

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

7 paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(13) wherever applicable, the nature and ex9 tent of violence against women and girls (as such 

10 term is defined in section 4 of the International Vio11 lence Against Women Act of 2018).’’; and 

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

13 (A) by redesignating the second subsection 

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

15 and 

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

17 subsection: 

18 ‘‘(k) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO VI19 OLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.—The report re20 quired by subsection (b) shall include, wherever applicable, 

21 the nature and extent of violence against women and girls 

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

23 Violence Against Women Act of 2018).’’. 

24 (c) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—In coordination 

25 with relevant officials, and consistent with the monitoring 


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1 and evaluation policies of their respective agencies, the 

2 Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall 

3 develop a plan for monitoring and independent evaluation 

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

5 Act. The plan shall— 

6 (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

7 methodologies to focus on learning, accountability, 

8 and policymaking, choosing from among a wide vari9 ety of qualitative, quantitative, summative, and 

10 formative methods common in the field of social sci11 entific inquiry, including impact evaluations; and 

12 (2) be included in the implementation plan re13 quired under section 101(c). 

14 (d) RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec15 retary of State and the Administrator of the United States 

16 Agency for International Development shall— 

17 (1) produce original research or analysis of ef18 fective interventions to prevent or respond to vio19 lence against women and girls internationally; 

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

21 the scope and extent of all forms of violence against 

22 women and girls internationally, including under 

23 documented forms of violence and violence against 

24 marginalized groups; 


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1 (3) conduct research on effective interventions 

2 to respond to violence against women and girls inter3 nationally, including efforts to scale up effective pro4 gramming; and 

5 (4) support systemic data collection using inter6 nationally comparable indicators, norms, and meth7 odologies for measuring the scope, prevalence, and 

8 incidence of violence against women and girls inter9 nationally. 

10 TITLE II—OVERSIGHT AND 

11 ACCOUNTABILITY 

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

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

14 establish in the Office of the Secretary of the Department 

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

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

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

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

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

20 and shall have the rank and status of Ambassador-at21 Large. 

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

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

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

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1 retary regarding approaches that promote equality and ad2 vance the status of women and girls in United States for3 eign policy. 

4 (c) DUTIES.— 

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

6 (A) in consultation with the Senior Coordi7 nator, shall direct activities, policies, programs, 

8 and funding relating to gender equality and the 

9 advancement of women and girls internation10 ally, including those intended to prevent and re11 spond to violence against women and girls, for 

12 all bureaus and offices of the Department of 

13 State and in the international programs of all 

14 other Federal agencies; 

15 (B) shall actively promote and advance the 

16 integration of gender analysis into the pro17 grams, structures, processes, and capacities of 

18 bureaus and offices of the Department of State 

19 and in the international programs of other Fed20 eral agencies; 

21 (C) shall direct United States Government 

22 resources, as appropriate, to respond to needs 

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1 grams, including to prevent and respond to vio2 lence against women and girls internationally; 

3 (D) may design, support, and implement 

4 activities regarding empowerment of women 

5 internationally, including for the prevention of 

6 and response to violence against women and 

7 girls internationally; 

8 (E) shall conduct regular consultation with 

9 civil society organizations working to prevent 

10 and respond to violence against women and 

11 girls internationally; 

12 (F) shall ensure that programs, projects, 

13 and activities designed to prevent and respond 

14 to violence against women and girls internation15 ally are subject to rigorous monitoring and eval16 uation, and that there is a uniform set of indi17 cators and standards for such monitoring and 

18 evaluation that is used across all Federal agen19 cies; 

20 (G) shall serve as the principal advisor to 

21 the Secretary of State regarding gender equal22 ity, women’s empowerment, and violence 

23 against women and girls as a foreign policy 

24 matter; and 


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1 (H) is authorized to represent the United 

2 States in diplomatic and multilateral fora on 

3 matters relevant to the status of women and 

4 girls, including violence against women and 

5 girls internationally. 

6 (2) INFORMATION SHARING AND TRANS7 PARENCY.—The Office— 

8 (A) shall be the central repository of data 

9 on all United States programs, projects, and ac10 tivities that relate to prevention and response to 

11 violence against women and girls; and 

12 (B) shall produce a full accounting of 

13 United States Government spending on such 

14 programs, projects, and activities. 

15 SEC. 202. SENIOR COORDINATOR FOR GENDER EQUALITY 

16 AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT. 

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

18 United States Agency for International Development the 

19 position of Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and 

20 Women’s Empowerment. The Senior Coordinator shall— 

21 (1) report to the Administrator of the United 

22 States Agency for International Development; and 

23 (2) conduct the activities of the Administrator 

24 under this Act. 

25 (b) DUTIES.—The Senior Coordinator— 


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1 (1) in consultation with the Ambassador-at2 Large, shall direct activities, policies, programs, and 

3 funding of the United States Agency for Inter4 national Development relating to gender equality 

5 and women’s empowerment, including those intended 

6 to prevent and respond to violence against women 

7 and girls; 

8 (2) shall actively promote and advance the inte9 gration of gender analysis into the programs, struc10 tures, processes, and capacities of all bureaus and 

11 offices of the United States Agency for International 

12 Development as required by the Agency’s Gender 

13 Equality and Female Empowerment Policy; 

14 (3) shall direct United States Agency for Inter15 national Development resources for gender equality 

16 and women’s empowerment, including to prevent and 

17 respond to violence against women and girls inter18 nationally; 

19 (4) may design, support, and implement activi20 ties led by the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development regarding gender equality and 

22 women’s empowerment, including for the prevention 

23 and response to violence against women and girls 

24 internationally; 


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1 (5) shall conduct regular consultation with civil 

2 society organizations working to prevent and re3 spond to violence against women and girls inter4 nationally; 

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

6 Administrator regarding gender equality, women’s 

7 empowerment, and violence against women and girls; 

8 and 

9 (7) shall track and analyze monitoring and eval10 uation data and findings on international prevention 

11 and response programs of the United States Agency 

12 for International Development, consistent with 

13 Agency-wide monitoring and evaluation activities, to 

14 assist in the preparation of the strategy developed 

15 under section 101(a). 

16 SEC. 203. BRIEFING AND ASSESSMENT. 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Ambas19 sador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall provide, 

20 to the appropriate congressional committees— 

21 (1) a briefing on international violence against 

22 women and girls prevention and response strategies, 

23 programming, and associated outcomes; and 


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1 (2) an assessment of human and financial re2 sources necessary to fulfill the purposes and duties 

3 under this Act. 

4 SEC. 204. ADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND 

5 GIRLS IN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, PEACE6 KEEPING, CONFLICT, AND POSTCONFLICT 

7 SETTINGS. 

8 (a) ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE

9 WITH USAID.—The Secretary of State and the Adminis10 trator of the United States Agency for International De11 velopment shall ensure that— 

12 (1) assistance made available for humanitarian 

13 relief, conflict mitigation, and post-conflict recon14 struction— 

15 (A) prevents and responds to violence 

16 against women and girls; 

17 (B) builds the capacity of local partners to 

18 address the special protection needs of women 

19 and children; 

20 (C) supports survivors of violence through 

21 education, essential medical and psychosocial 

22 assistance, trauma counseling, family and com23 munity reinsertion and reunification, and eco24 nomic opportunity programs; and 


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1 (D) provides legal services for women and 

2 girls who are victims of violence; 

3 (2) specialists in violence against women and 

4 girls are designated and deployed, as appropriate, as 

5 an integral part of Disaster Assistance Response 

6 Teams to ensure the integration of prevention and 

7 response to violence against women and girls inter8 nationally in strategies and programming; and 

9 (3) contractors, grantees, and governments that 

10 carry out programs with United States assistance— 

11 (A) train humanitarian workers in pre12 venting and responding to violence against 

13 women and girls, including in the use of mecha14 nisms to report violence against women and 

15 girls; 

16 (B) conduct appropriate public outreach to 

17 make known to the host community the mecha18 nisms to report violence against women and 

19 girls; and 

20 (C) promptly and appropriately respond to 

21 reports of violence against women and girls and 

22 treat survivors in accordance with best practices 

23 regarding confidentiality. 


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1 (b) EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO CREDIBLE REPORTS

2 OF CRITICAL OR WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AGAINST

3 WOMEN AND GIRLS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act5 ing through the heads of relevant bureaus and of6 fices of the Department of State, shall— 

7 (A) identify critical or widespread incidents 

8 of violence against women and girls in situa9 tions of armed conflict when such incidents 

10 occur, through consultation with other Federal 

11 departments and agencies, the United Nations, 

12 international organizations, and nongovern13 mental organizations; 

14 (B) determine emergency response meas15 ures not later than 45 days after such identi16 fication; and 

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

18 implementation of such emergency response 

19 measures and outcomes not later than 90 days 

20 after such determination. 

21 (2) CONTENT.—The emergency measures devel22 oped under paragraph (1) shall include a description 

23 of bilateral diplomatic efforts with— 

24 (A) the government of the country in 

25 which the violence is occurring; 


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1 (B) governments in the region in which the 

2 violence is occurring; and 

3 (C) other donor governments. 

Æ 


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