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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2231

Concerning international women’s human rights.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 20, 1993

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

Concerning international women’s human rights.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women’s Human

5 Rights Protection Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL DECLARATION.

7 The Congress makes the following findings and dec8 larations:

9 (1) It is the sense of Congress that the State

10 Department should designate within the appropriate

11 bureau a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary

12 to promote international women’s human rights
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1 within the overall human rights policy of the United

2 States Government.

3 (2) The purpose of assigning a special assistant

4 on women’s human rights issues is not to segregate

5 such issues, but rather to assure that they are con6 sidered along with other human rights issues in the

7 development of United States foreign policy.

8 (3) A specifically designated special assistant is

9 necessary because within the human rights field and

10 the foreign policy establishment, the issues of gen11 der-based discrimination and violence against women

12 have long been ignored or made invisible.

13 (4) The Congress believes that abuses against

14 women would have greater visibility and protection

15 of women’s human rights would improve if the advo16 cate were responsible for integrating women’s

17 human rights issues into United States human

18 rights policy in ways including, but not limited to,

19 the following:

20 (A) The designated women’s human rights

21 advocate would seek to assure that the issue of

22 abuses against women, along with human rights

23 issues generally, are a factor in determining ap24 propriate recipients for United States bilateral
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1 assistance as well as United States votes at the

2 multilateral development banks.

3 (B) The advocate would work with the re4 gional bureaus of the Department of State to

5 devise strategies for the executive branch to

6 bring pressure to bear on governments that en7 gage in violence or systematic discrimination

8 against women or fail to afford equal treatment

9 of women before the law.

10 (C) The advocate would, in consultation

11 with the bureau responsible for international or12 ganizations, pursue strategies to increase the

13 visibility and integration of gender-based perse14 cution and violence in multilateral fora includ15 ing, but not limited to, the United States Com16 mission on Human Rights and the Working

17 Group on Torture.

18 (D) The advocate would seek to assure

19 that the United States Trade Representative

20 conduct inquiries and take steps to prevent

21 countries from receiving trade benefits under

22 the Generalized System of Preferences and

23 most favored nation status where governments

24 fail to address violence, systematic discrimina25 tion, and exploitation of women workers.
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1 (E) The advocate would seek to assure

2 that the protection of women’s human rights,

3 including womens’ participation in the political

4 process, women’s right to freedom of associa5 tion and expression, and freedom from discrimi6 nation, would be addressed in the context of

7 United States funded programs in the area of

8 democracy including, but not limited to, democ9 racy programs at the Agency for International

10 Development (AID), democracy programs for

11 Eastern Europe funded by the Support Eastern

12 European Democracy (SEED) legislation, and

13 new programs that may be contemplated.

14 (F) The advocate would seek to assure

15 that United States assistance programs in the

16 area of administration of justice include efforts

17 to redress violations of women’s rights.

18 (G) The advocate would work with AID

19 and the appropriate office at the Department of

20 State to secure funding for programs to meet

21 the needs of women victims of human rights

22 abuses including, but not limited to, medical

23 and psychological assistance for rape victims.

24 (H) The advocate would work to assure

25 United States ratification of the United Nations
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1 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

2 Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and

3 oversee the preparation of reports pursuant to

4 that Convention.

5 (I) The advocate would seek to upgrade

6 the quality and quantity of information about

7 abuses of women’s human rights in the report8 ing from United States embassies overseas, in9 corporate that information not only in the State

10 Department Country Reports on Human

11 Rights, but also in other public statements and

12 documents including, but not limited to, con13 gressional testimony and private demarches.

14 SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

15 (a) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date

16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall sub17 mit a report to the Congress on the steps taken to create

18 the position described in section 2 or to otherwise fulfill

19 the objectives detailed in that section.

20 (b) UNITED STATES RATIFICATION OF CEDAW.—

21 If the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of

22 All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

23 has not been submitted to the Senate for ratification, not

24 more than 90 days after the date of enactment of this

25 Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the
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1 Congress on the administration’s position on the ratifica2 tion of CEDAW and timetable for submission of CEDAW

3 for congressional consideration and approval.

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