I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5905 
To combat international violence against women and girls. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2012 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. ACKERMAN, 
Ms. BASS of California, Ms. BORDALLO, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CARNAHAN, 
Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. LARSON 
of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of California, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
MORAN, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. RANGEL, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. 
SPEIER, Mr. STARK, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 
CICILLINE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. OLVER, Ms. DEGETTE, and Mr. WELCH) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To combat international violence against women and girls. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘International Violence Against Women Act of 2012’’. 
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(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Statement of policy. 
Sec. 4. Office for Global Women’s Issues. 
Sec. 5. Comprehensive international strategy and assistance to reduce and pre-
vent violence against women and girls. 
Sec. 6. Assistance to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls 
internationally. 
Sec. 7. Ensuring accountability of the United States response to violence 
against women and girls internationally. 
Sec. 8. Enhancing United States training of foreign military and police forces 
and judicial officials on violence against women and girls. 
Sec. 9. Addressing violence against women and girls in humanitarian relief, 
peacekeeping, conflict, and postconflict settings. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Approximately 1 out of every 3 women 
throughout the world will be beaten, experience 
physical or sexual violence, or be otherwise abused in 
her lifetime. The World Health Organization (WHO) 
has reported that up to 70 percent of women in 
some countries report having been victims of domes-
tic violence at some stage in their lives. 
(2) The status of women is an indicator for the 
overall direction of society, serving as a valuable ba-
rometer for social unrest and instability. 
(3) Addressing women’s and girls’ rights can 
improve security as World Bank data shows a strong 
correlation between gender inequality and violence 
within a state. 
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(4) Violence against women and girls dramati-
cally impedes progress in meeting all of our global 
health goals, including efforts to stem maternal mor-
tality and the spread of HIV/AIDS. Approximately 
1 in 4 women are abused during pregnancy, which, 
according to WHO, has been linked to miscarriage, 
preterm labor, low birth weight, fetal distress, and 
death. Women who have experienced violence are 
also at higher risk for contracting HIV, and women 
living with HIV may be up to 3 times more likely 
to experience violence than other women. Fear of vi-
olence also prevents women from accessing HIV/ 
AIDS information and receiving treatment and 
counseling. 
(5) Increasing women’s access to economic op-
portunities is crucial to preventing and responding 
to domestic and sexual violence. Microfinance-based 
interventions and increased asset control reduce lev-
els of intimate partner violence and provide eco-
nomic independence for survivors. 
(6) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women and 
girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict settings, 
and natural disasters face extreme violence and 
threats because of power inequities, including— 
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(A) being forced to exchange sex for food 
and humanitarian supplies; and 
(B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual 
exploitation, and abuse. 
(7) Rape and sexual assault against women and 
girls are used to torture, intimidate, and terrorize 
women and their communities. 
(8) Research shows that working with men and 
boys to change attitudes towards women can have a 
profound impact on reducing violence against 
women. 
(9) According to the United Nations Children’s 
Fund (UNICEF), child marriage— 
(A) is a harmful practice that deprives 
girls of their dignity and human rights; 
(B) can result in bonded labor or enslave-
ment, commercial sexual exploitation, and vio-
lence against the victims; 
(C) significantly increases the risk of ma-
ternal death and morbidity, infant mortality 
and morbidity, obstetric fistula, and sexually 
transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS; and 
(D) is perpetuated by poverty, a lack of 
educational or employment opportunities for 
girls, parental concerns to ensure sexual rela-
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tions within marriage, the dowry system, and 
the perceived lack of value of girls. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to— 
(1) systematically integrate and coordinate ef-
forts to prevent and respond to violence against 
women and girls internationally into United States 
foreign policy and foreign assistance programs; 
(2) promote women’s political, economic, edu-
cational, social, cultural, civil, and human rights and 
opportunities throughout the world; 
(3) support and build capacity of indigenous 
nongovernmental organizations that are working to 
prevent and respond to violence against women and 
girls internationally, particularly women’s non-
governmental organizations and groups involving 
male advocates; 
(4) prevent and respond to violence against 
women and girls internationally through multisec-
toral methods, working at individual, family, commu-
nity, local, national, and international levels and in-
corporating service, prevention, training, and advo-
cacy activities and economic, education, health, legal, 
and protective intervention services; 
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(5) enhance training and other prevention and 
response to violence against women and girls inter-
nationally in humanitarian relief, conflict, and post- 
conflict settings; 
(6) enhance training by United States personnel 
of professional foreign military and police forces and 
judicial officials to include specific and thorough in-
struction on preventing and responding to violence 
against women and girls internationally; 
(7) more regularly engage men and boys as 
community leaders, partners, and advocates in end-
ing violence against women and girls; 
(8) support efforts to end child marriage as an 
important part of preventing violence against girls 
by promoting education and skills building for girls, 
community programs, and increased economic oppor-
tunities for women to achieve development objec-
tives; and 
(9) ensure that private security firms con-
tracted for service in conflict, humanitarian, and 
postconflict settings appropriately report on, and re-
spond to, violence against women and girls inter-
nationally. 
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SEC. 4. OFFICE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 
establish in the Office of the Secretary of the Department 
of State an Office for Global Women’s Issues (in this sec-
tion referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). The Office shall be head-
ed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues 
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Ambassador-at- 
Large’’), who shall be appointed by the President, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Ambas-
sador-at-Large shall report directly to the Secretary and 
shall have the rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large. 
(b) PURPOSE.—In addition to the duties described in 
subsection (c) and those duties determined by the Sec-
retary of State, the Office shall coordinate efforts of the 
United States Government regarding gender integration 
and empowerment of women in United States foreign pol-
icy. 
(c) DUTIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Ambassador-at-Large— 
(A) shall coordinate and advise on activi-
ties, policies, programs, and funding relating to 
gender integration and empowerment of women 
internationally, including those intended to pre-
vent and respond to violence against women, for 
all bureaus and offices of the Department of 
State and in the international programs of 
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International Development, the Millennium Chal-
lenge Corporation, and the Office of the Global 
AIDS Coordinator, on all policies, programs, and 
funding of such departments and agencies relating 
to gender integration and empowerment of women, 
including ending violence against women and girls 
internationally. 
(3) DIPLOMATIC REPRESENTATION.—Subject to 
the direction of the President and the Secretary of 
State, the Ambassador-at-Large is authorized to 
represent the United States in matters relevant to 
the status of women, including violence against 
women and girls internationally. 
(d) REPORTS.—Subject to the guidance of the Am-
bassador-at-Large, the heads of all bureaus and offices of 
the Department of State, as appropriate, shall evaluate 
and monitor all empowerment of women programs admin-
istered by such bureaus and offices and annually submit 
to the Ambassador-at-Large reports containing an ac-
counting of such programs and their effectiveness. 
(e) PLANNING AND BUDGETING.—The Secretary of 
State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development shall fully integrate gender 
into all diplomatic and development efforts of the Depart-
ment of State and the United States Agency for Inter-
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national Development, respectively, through the inclusion 
of gender in strategic planning and budget allocations, and 
the development of indicators and evaluation mechanisms 
to measure the impact of United States policies and pro-
grams on women and girls in foreign countries. 
(f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall seek to co-
ordinate with United States Government depart-
ments and agencies and should provide advice and 
guidance, as necessary, to United States Govern-
ment departments and agencies engaged in inter-
national programs, to monitor and evaluate em-
powerment of women programs and outcomes and 
impacts of such programs, including programs such 
departments and agencies administer for prevention 
and response to violence against women and girls 
internationally. 
(2) REPORT.—The heads of United States Gov-
ernment departments and agencies with inter-
national programs described in paragraph (1) shall 
provide to the Office on an annual basis information 
on empowerment of women programs and outcomes 
and impacts of such programs, including for preven-
tion and response to violence against women and 
girls internationally, in order to contribute to the de-
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velopment and implementation of the comprehensive 
strategy required under section 5. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec-
essary, under the heading ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Pro-
grams’’, to carry out activities under this section. Funds 
appropriated pursuant to this subsection are in addition 
to amounts otherwise available for such purposes. 
SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY AND 
ASSISTANCE TO REDUCE AND PREVENT VIO-
LENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT
AND
IMPLEMENTATION
OF 
STRATEGY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, with the 
assistance of the Administrator of the United States Agen-
cy for International Development, shall— 
(1) develop a comprehensive, 5-year inter-
national strategy to prevent and respond to violence 
against women and girls internationally; 
(2) submit the strategy developed under para-
graph (1) to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives; and 
(3) make the strategy available to the public. 
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(b) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel-
oping the strategy under subsection (a), the Secretary of 
State shall consult with— 
(1) Federal departments and agencies that have 
expertise in preventing and responding to violence 
against women and girls or administering inter-
national programs; and 
(2) representatives of civil society organizations 
with demonstrated experience in combating violence 
against women and girls or promoting women’s 
health or women’s development issues internation-
ally. 
(c) CONTENT.—The strategy developed under sub-
section (a) shall— 
(1) identify eligible countries (not classified as 
high-income countries in the most recent edition of 
the World Development Report for Reconstruction 
and Development, published by the International 
Bank for Reconstruction and Development) with sig-
nificant levels of violence against women and girls 
that have the government or nongovernmental orga-
nizational capacity to manage and implement gen-
der-based violence prevention and response program 
activities and should, when possible, be geographi-
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cally, ethnically, and culturally diverse from one an-
other; 
(2) select at least 5 of the eligible countries 
identified under paragraph (1) in which to develop 
a comprehensive and holistic individual country plan 
that incorporates at least 2 of the program activities 
listed in subsection (d); 
(3) assess and describe the current or potential 
capacity of the government of each eligible country 
selected under paragraph (2) and civil society orga-
nizations in each such eligible country to address 
and respond to violence against women and girls; 
(4) identify and coordinate with Federal depart-
ments and agencies that— 
(A) have existing programs relevant to the 
strategy; 
(B) will be involved in new program activi-
ties; and 
(C) coordinate with broader United States 
strategies around development; 
(5) describe the monitoring and evaluation 
mechanisms established for each eligible country, 
and their use in assessing overall progress in preven-
tion and response; 
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(6) project general levels of resources needed to 
achieve the stated objectives in each eligible country, 
including an accounting of— 
(A) activities and funding already ex-
pended by the Department of State, the United 
States Agency for International Development, 
other Federal departments and agencies, other 
donor country governments, and other multilat-
eral institutions; and 
(B) leveraged private sector resources; 
(7) include capacity-building and technical as-
sistance for community-based women’s nongovern-
mental organizations and community-based organi-
zations with demonstrated experience relating to 
prevention and response, including combating vio-
lence against women and girls internationally; 
(8) identify and coordinate with existing non-
governmental and multilateral programs, initiatives, 
and groups with demonstrated experience in preven-
tion and response internationally, particularly co-
ordinating with women’s organizations and commu-
nity-based groups; 
(9) integrate gender analysis into the strategy 
for each country to ensure that the roles of women, 
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girls, men, and boys are appropriately addressed; 
and 
(10) include, as appropriate, strategies designed 
to accommodate the needs of stateless, internally 
displaced, refugee, religious, or ethnic minority 
women and girls. 
(d) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—The strat-
egy developed under subsection (a) for an eligible country 
shall contain a country plan that incorporates at least two 
of the following program activities: 
(1) Development and enforcement of civil and 
criminal legal and judicial sanctions, protections, 
training, and capacity. 
(2) Development and implementation of pro-
grams, including programs targeting men and boys 
and media campaigns, that work to change social 
norms and attitudes so that violence against women 
and girls is neither condoned nor tolerated. 
(3) Ensuring accessible quality educational and 
literacy opportunities for women and girls. 
(4) Promotion of access to economic oppor-
tunity projects, including increasing distribution, 
credit, property, and inheritance rights for women 
and girls. 
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(5) Enhancing the capacity of the health sector 
to prevent and respond to violence against women 
and girls. 
(6) Supporting the elimination of obstacles 
faced by women to political participation to encour-
age democratic principles. 
SEC. 6. ASSISTANCE TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO VIO-
LENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS INTER-
NATIONALLY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development are authorized to provide assistance 
pursuant to the comprehensive international strategy de-
veloped under section 5 for eligible countries identified and 
selected under such section, including to support program 
activities described in subsection (d) of such section. As-
sistance under this section shall be provided through De-
partment of State and United States Agency for Inter-
national Development implementing agencies, including 
local and international civil society organizations, multilat-
eral institutions, and governments of eligible countries, in 
accordance with existing procedures. 
(b) COORDINATION OF EXISTING ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAMS.—The Secretary of State and the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Develop-
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ment shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate 
programs, projects, and activities under this section with 
other programs, projects, and activities to prevent and re-
spond to violence against women and girls internationally 
under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2151 et seq.) and other foreign assistance laws, as applica-
ble. 
(c) USE
OF FUNDS.—Any funds made available 
under this section to nongovernmental or civil society or-
ganizations should be made available to organizations 
that— 
(1) have demonstrated experience regarding vio-
lence against women and girls internationally or 
have entered into a partnership with an organization 
with such experience; and 
(2) have demonstrated capabilities or experience 
in a particular program activity described in section 
5(d). 
(d) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—The Secretary of 
State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development shall brief Congress upon 
request, on the transparent mechanisms used to ensure 
that funds made available under this section through non-
governmental organizations are awarded to organizations 
described in subsection (c). 
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(e) GRANTS TO WOMEN’S NONGOVERNMENTAL OR-
GANIZATIONS
AND
COMMUNITY-BASED
ORGANIZA-
TIONS.—To the extent possible, 10 percent of the amount 
of assistance provided to an eligible country under this 
section should be provided to community-based organiza-
tions, including community-based women’s nongovern-
mental organizations. The Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development shall brief 
Congress, upon request, on efforts made to assist such or-
ganizations to be eligible for such assistance. 
(f) AWARD PROCESS.—Assistance provided under 
this section shall be provided through an open, competi-
tive, and transparent process to the extent possible. 
(g) CONDITIONS.—A recipient of assistance under 
this section— 
(1) where possible, shall allocate a reasonable 
portion of such grants for data collection and the 
evaluation of program effectiveness; 
(2) shall be responsible for developing and re-
porting on outcomes and impacts relating to pre-
venting and responding to violence against women 
and girls internationally; 
(3) should gather input from women’s non-
governmental organizations or community-based or-
ganizations in recipient countries, including organi-
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zations with experience in working with men and 
boys to prevent violence; and 
(4) shall consider the safety of women and girls 
as a primary concern in deciding how to design, im-
plement, monitor, and evaluate programs. 
SEC. 7. ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE UNITED 
STATES RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE AGAINST 
WOMEN AND GIRLS INTERNATIONALLY. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—The Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 is amended— 
(1) in section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)), by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) The report required by subsection (d) shall in-
clude, wherever applicable, the nature and extent of vio-
lence against women and girls. 
‘‘(h) The report required by subsection (d) shall in-
clude, for each country in which child marriage is preva-
lent, a description of the status of the practice of child 
marriage in such country. In this subsection, the term 
‘child marriage’ means the marriage of a girl or boy, who 
has not attained the age of 18 but who has attained the 
minimum age for marriage stipulated in law or who has 
not attained the age of 18 if no such law exists, in the 
country in which such girl or boy is a resident.’’; and 
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(2) in section 502B (22 U.S.C. 2304), by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(j) The report required by subsection (b) shall in-
clude, wherever applicable, the nature and extent of vio-
lence against women and girls. 
‘‘(k) The report required by subsection (b) shall in-
clude, for each country in which child marriage is preva-
lent, a description of the status of the practice of child 
marriage in such country. In this subsection, the term 
‘child marriage’ means the marriage of a girl or boy, who 
has not attained the age of 18 but who has attained the 
minimum age for marriage stipulated in law or who has 
not attained the age of 18 if no such law exists, in the 
country in which such girl or boy is a resident.’’. 
(b) TRANSPARENCY.—Upon request, the Secretary of 
State shall provide to Congress the information made 
available under sections 5(b) and 6(b), including outcomes 
and impacts related to prevention and response to violence 
against women and girls internationally submitted by con-
tractors, subcontractors, grantees, and subgrantees, un-
less such disclosure would inhibit the security or effective-
ness of such entities. 
(c) RESEARCH AND DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec-
retary of State, with assistance from the Administrator 
of the United States Agency for International Develop-
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ment and in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Attorney General— 
(1) shall seek to coordinate data collection and 
evaluations of international violence against women 
and girls programs; and 
(2) may provide financial assistance for original 
research or analysis of effective interventions to pre-
vent or respond to violence against women and girls 
internationally. 
(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts authorized to be ap-
propriated in this section may be used to— 
(1) collect and analyze new or existing data on 
the scope and extent of all forms of violence against 
women and girls internationally, including under 
documented forms of violence and violence against 
marginalized groups; 
(2) conduct research on effective interventions 
to respond to violence against women and girls inter-
nationally, including efforts to scaleup effective pro-
gramming; and 
(3) support systemic data collection using inter-
nationally comparable indicators, norms, and meth-
odologies for measuring the scope, prevalence, and 
incidence of violence against women and girls inter-
nationally. 
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SEC. 8. ENHANCING UNITED STATES TRAINING OF FOR-
EIGN MILITARY AND POLICE FORCES AND JU-
DICIAL OFFICIALS ON VIOLENCE AGAINST 
WOMEN AND GIRLS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
sure that United States programs to train foreign mili-
tary, police, and judicial officials include instruction on 
prevention of and response to violence against women and 
girls. 
(b) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary of State is authorized 
to provide guidance to the Secretary of Defense, as appro-
priate, on how to— 
(1) incorporate training on prevention and re-
sponse to violence against women and girls into the 
basic training curricula of foreign military forces, 
police forces, and judicial officials under covered 
programs; 
(2) ensure that assistance under covered pro-
grams to units involved in regional or multilateral 
peacekeeping operations includes training on preven-
tion and response to violence against women and 
girls; and 
(3) engage community-based nongovernmental 
organizations in the monitoring of actions taken by 
foreign military forces, police forces, and judicial of-
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ficials to prevent and respond to violence against 
women and girls. 
(c) COVERED PROGRAMS.—The programs referred to 
in subsection (a) include— 
(1) programs carried out by the Secretary of 
Defense under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
(22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.); and 
(2) programs authorized under section 1206 of 
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 
Year 2006 (Public Law 109–163; Stat. 3456). 
SEC. 9. ADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND 
GIRLS IN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, PEACE-
KEEPING, CONFLICT, AND POSTCONFLICT 
SETTINGS. 
(a) ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
WITH USAID.—The Secretary of State and the Adminis-
trator of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment shall ensure that— 
(1) assistance made available for humanitarian 
relief, conflict mitigation, and post-conflict recon-
struction— 
(A) prevents and responds to violence 
against women and girls; 
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(B) builds the capacity of local partners to 
address the special protection needs of women 
and children; 
(C) supports survivors of violence through 
education, essential medical and psychosocial 
assistance, trauma counseling, family and com-
munity reinsertion and reunification, and eco-
nomic opportunity programs; and 
(D) provides legal services for women and 
girls who are victims of violence; 
(2) assistance made available for disarmament, 
demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration— 
(A) provides protection and suitable sepa-
rate facilities in demobilization and transit cen-
ters for women and girls formerly involved in, 
or associated with, fighting forces; 
(B) offers equitable opportunities for such 
women and girls, including access to schooling, 
vocational training, employment, and childcare; 
(C) provides essential medical care and 
psychosocial support for such women and girls; 
and 
(D) incorporates efforts to prevent future 
violence against women and girls by former 
combatants; 
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(3) specialists in violence against women and 
girls are designated and deployed, as appropriate, as 
an integral part of Disaster Assistance Response 
Teams to ensure the integration of prevention and 
response to violence against women and girls inter-
nationally in strategies and programming; and 
(4) contractors, grantees, and governments that 
carry out programs with United States assistance— 
(A) train humanitarian workers in pre-
venting and responding to violence against 
women and girls, including in the use of mecha-
nisms to report violence against women and 
girls; 
(B) conduct appropriate public outreach to 
make known to the host community the mecha-
nisms to report violence against women and 
girls; and 
(C) promptly and appropriately respond to 
reports of violence against women and girls and 
treat survivors in accordance with best practices 
regarding confidentiality. 
(b) COORDINATION OF UNITED STATES GOVERN-
MENT EFFORTS.—The Secretary of State shall regularly 
consult with the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney 
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General to coordinate design and implementation of pro-
grams relevant to the purposes of this section. 
(c) SENSE
OF CONGRESS REGARDING ACCOUNT-
ABILITY OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING AND PO-
LICE FORCES AND THEIR CAPACITY TO ADDRESS VIO-
LENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Secretary of State should encourage the 
Secretary-General of the United Nations to continue to 
strengthen the ability of the United Nations Department 
of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field 
Support to prevent and respond to violence against women 
and girls by— 
(1) requiring troop and police contributing 
countries to properly train their forces deployed in 
United Nations peacekeeping operations on the 
United Nations guidance regarding violence against 
women and girls, including sexual exploitation and 
abuse; 
(2) ensuring effective implementation of the 
zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and 
abuse in United Nations peacekeeping and humani-
tarian operations; and 
(3) supporting the expansion of the role and 
number of female officers in all United Nations 
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peacekeeping missions, whether as military or police 
forces, civilian staff or military observers. 
(d) EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO CREDIBLE REPORTS 
OF
CRITICAL
OR
WIDESPREAD
VIOLENCE
AGAINST 
WOMEN AND GIRLS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act-
ing through the heads of relevant bureaus and of-
fices of the Department of State, shall— 
(A) identify critical or widespread incidents 
of violence against women and girls in situa-
tions of armed conflict when such incidents 
occur, through consultation with other Federal 
departments and agencies, the United Nations, 
international organizations, and nongovern-
mental organizations; 
(B) determine emergency response meas-
ures not later than 45 days after such identi-
fication; and 
(C) brief Congress, upon request, on the 
implementation of such emergency response 
measures and outcomes not later than 90 days 
after such determination. 
(2) CONTENT.—The emergency measures devel-
oped under paragraph (1) shall include a description 
of bilateral diplomatic efforts with— 
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(A) the government of the country in 
which the violence is occurring; 
(B) governments in the region in which the 
violence is occurring; and 
(C) other donor governments. 
Æ 
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