IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 894 

Expressing the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to 

condemn and prevent the use of sexual and gender-based violence in 

armed conflict as a weapon of war and fully implement the Women, 

Peace, and Security Agenda. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2020 

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

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the continued commitment of the House of Representatives to condemn and prevent the use of sexual 

and gender-based violence in armed conflict as a weapon 

of war and fully implement the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda. 

Whereas, in April 2019, the Republic of Germany submitted 

a draft version of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2467, reaffirming its commitment to the continuation and full implementation of resolutions 1325 (2000), 

1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 

2106 (2013), 2122 (2013), and 2242 (2015) on women, 

peace, and security; 

Whereas, as reported by the Guardian and other news outlets, the United States delegation opposed the original 


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•HRES 894 IH 

draft language on the grounds that ambiguity in the language could be interpreted as supporting abortion, and 

threatened to veto the resolution unless the paragraph 

was eliminated entirely; 

Whereas this is not the first instance in which the Trump administration has attempted to dilute human rights language and reporting related to reproductive health; 

Whereas the resolution was intended to be a declaration of 

global opposition to the use of sexual and gender-based 

violence in armed conflict; 

Whereas the resolution was intended to strengthen the 

Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in the lead up to 

October 2020, the 20th anniversary of United Nations 

Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, 

peace, and security, which recognized the disproportional 

impact that armed conflict has had on women and girls 

and called for the inclusion of a gender perspective in 

conflict resolution; 

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 

was the first recommendation by the United Nations Security Council to parties involved in an armed conflict to 

prevent the use of sexual and gender-based violence in 

armed conflict as well as ensure the inclusion of women 

in peace negotiations and postconflict reconstruction; 

Whereas the initial draft resolution submitted by Germany in 

April 2019 urged ‘‘United Nations entities and donors to 

provide nondiscriminatory and comprehensive health services, including sexual and reproductive health, psychosocial, legal, and livelihood support and other multisectoral services for survivors of sexual violence, taking into 

account the specific needs of persons with disabilities.’’; 


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•HRES 894 IH 

Whereas the language included in the initial draft resolution 

was previously agreed by consensus in the United Nations Security Council and was intended to send a clear 

message of the need to support survivors and that the 

use of rape as a weapon of war is not condoned by the 

global community; 

Whereas the inclusion of reproductive health care data as an 

indicator of a broader human rights assessment signals 

the purposeful inclusion of women and girls, as well as 

their health, in the global human rights conversation; 

Whereas, in spring 2019, for the second year in a row, the 

Trump administration omitted data on reproductive 

health care previously included in the Department of 

State’s annual report on human rights globally; 

Whereas, in September 2019, the United States led a joint 

statement delivered at the United Nations High-Level 

Meeting on Universal Health Coverage attacking sexual 

and reproductive health and rights, misrepresenting the 

term as an attack on ‘‘the family’’; 

Whereas women’s security has been a priority of the House 

of Representatives of the 116th Congress, having recently 

reintroduced the International Violence Against Women 

Act; 

Whereas the work of human rights defenders, including 

women human rights defenders, in promoting civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights positively impacts the lives of women and girls around the world; 

Whereas women human rights defenders are at risk of and 

suffer from violations and abuses, including systematic 

violations and abuses of their fundamental rights to life, 

liberty, and security of person, to psychological and physVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:55 Mar 10, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR894.IH HR894

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ical integrity, to privacy and respect for private and family life, and to freedom of opinion and expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and in addition these defenders can experience gender-based violence, rape, and 

other forms of sexual violence, harassment, and verbal 

abuse and attacks on reputation, online and offline, by 

state actors, including law enforcement personnel and security forces, and nonstate actors, such as those related 

to family and community, in both public and private 

spheres; 

Whereas historical and structural inequalities in power relations and discrimination against women, as well as various forms of extremism, have direct implications for the 

status and treatment of women; and 

Whereas, as documented in the United Nations Declaration 

on Human Rights Defenders, the rights of women human 

rights defenders, including those working on sexual and 

reproductive health and rights, have been violated or 

abused and their work stigmatized owing to discriminatory practices and social norms or patterns that serve to 

condone violence against women or perpetuate practices 

involving such violence: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) it is the policy of the United States to en4 sure and promote the full, equal, meaningful, and ef5 fective participation of women in all aspects of over6 seas conflict prevention, management, and resolu7 tion, and postconflict relief and recovery efforts; 


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1 (2) it is the policy of the United States to work 

2 toward preventing the use of gender-based violence 

3 in armed conflict and work toward ensuring account4 ability for victims and survivors of gender-based vio5 lence; 

6 (3) it is the policy of the United States to pro7 mote the principles espoused in United Nations Se8 curity Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on women, 

9 peace, and security, and all subsequent United Na10 tions Security Council resolutions on women, peace, 

11 and security; 

12 (4) the United States should adopt, as a pre13 condition for the achievement of our wider foreign 

14 development, assistance, and security policy objec15 tives, a feminist foreign policy, defined as a strategy 

16 that places the promotion of gender equality and the 

17 empowerment of women and girls at the center of its 

18 initiatives and investment and that focuses on pro19 moting the rights of women and girls, challenging 

20 gender-based discrimination, and fighting gender in21 equality, which includes preventing gender-based vio22 lence and all forms of conflict-related sexual vio23 lence; and 

24 (5) the United States should— 


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1 (A) respect, protect, and fulfill the rights 

2 of women and girls to bodily autonomy; 

3 (B) support all future efforts by inter4 national institutions and organizations to en5 sure universal access to comprehensive sexual 

6 and reproductive health information and serv7 ices, free of discrimination, coercion, and vio8 lence; 

9 (C) update and implement the United 

10 States National Action Plan on Women, Peace, 

11 and Security, to include an increased focus on 

12 the full health of women and girls, including 

13 sexual and reproductive health and rights; 

14 (D) actively support and promote inter15 national efforts to prioritize the rights and 

16 needs of women and girls and ensure their full, 

17 equal, meaningful, and effective participation in 

18 all areas that affect them; and 

19 (E) create an enabling environment to— 

20 (i) ensure that women and girls 

21 human rights defenders can perform their 

22 important role of holding the government 

23 accountable to its legal obligations under 

24 international law, including under inter25 national human rights law; 


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1 (ii) prevent violations, abuses, threats, 

2 harassment, and violence against women 

3 and girls human rights defenders, who face 

4 particular risk because of their gender and 

5 their work; 

6 (iii) combat impunity by ensuring that 

7 those responsible for violations and abuses, 

8 including gender-based violence and 

9 threats against women and girls human 

10 rights defenders, committed by state and 

11 nonstate actors, including online, are 

12 promptly brought to justice through impar13 tial investigations; and 

14 (iv) ensure accountability by respect15 ing, protecting, and fulfilling victims’ and 

16 survivors’ right to an effective remedy. 

Æ 


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