IV 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 521 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
should work with the Government of Haiti to address gender-based 
violence against women and children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2012 
Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Ms. BASS of California, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. 
CAPUANO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CLARKE of Michigan, Ms. 
CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLI-
SON, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of 
Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia, Mr. KEATING, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
RANGEL, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SE-
WELL, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WATERS, and Mr. 
WATT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States should work with the Government 
of Haiti to address gender-based violence against women 
and children. 
Whereas since 1993, research has shown tens of thousands 
of women and girls have been victims of sexual or gender- 
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•HRES 521 IH 
based violence in Haiti, particularly in times of conflict 
or natural disaster; 
Whereas approximately 50 percent of the victims are adoles-
cent girls under the age of 18, with many of the cases 
involving the use of weapons, gang rape, and death 
threats for reporting the crime; 
Whereas members of many medical professions are insuffi-
ciently trained to attend to the special needs of victims 
of gender-based violence, whether they be children or 
adults; 
Whereas some medical providers report as many as 20 per-
cent of adolescent victims they have treated for sexual vi-
olence become pregnant from their rape; 
Whereas some women’s rights groups in Haiti have witnessed 
dramatic increases in rates of sexual violence in many of 
the displacement camps formed after the earthquake; 
Whereas the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti in-
creased the economic and social vulnerabilities of many 
women who are now unable to protect their young chil-
dren from sexual predators, thereby increasing their risk 
for sexual violence; 
Whereas according to data from public interest law firms liti-
gating cases of sexual violence, significant gender-based 
barriers to justice continue to exist at all levels of the 
Haitian justice system; 
Whereas an effective, transparent, and impartial judicial sys-
tem is key to the administration of justice, and the fail-
ure to ensure proper investigations and prosecutions 
hampers the ability to hold perpetrators accountable for 
their crimes and discourages victims from formally seek-
ing justice; 
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•HRES 521 IH 
Whereas inadequate financial, human, and technical re-
sources, as well as a lack of forensic and technical exper-
tise, have impeded the arrest and prosecution of suspects; 
Whereas members of the police, prosecutors, and judges are 
insufficiently trained to attend to either the special needs 
of women and girl victims of gender-based violence, or 
the special needs of boys and girls who are victims of 
other abuses such as forced labor, beatings, or violence; 
Whereas the lack of protection measures discourages women 
and girls in Haiti from pursuing prosecution of perpetra-
tors of sexual violence, for fear of reprisal or stigmatiza-
tion; 
Whereas rape and other forms of gender-based violence in 
Haiti threaten the physical and psychological health of 
both the victims and their families; 
Whereas many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean 
face significant challenges in combating violence against 
women and girls, and violence against children, and inter-
national cooperation is essential in addressing this seri-
ous issue; 
Whereas the Government of Haiti has undertaken efforts to 
prevent violence against women, as evidenced by its rati-
fication of the United Nations Convention on the Elimi-
nation of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 
the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Pun-
ishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women, 
and other international human rights treaties, and the 
enactment of laws and the creation of state institutions 
to promote and protect the rights of women; 
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•HRES 521 IH 
Whereas the Government of Haiti has been a signatory of the 
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 
since December 29, 1994; 
Whereas the Haitian National Police and the United Nations 
Mission for Stabilization of Haiti have created special po-
lice units to address sexual and other forms of gender- 
based violence in Haiti; 
Whereas the special police unit to address gender-based vio-
lence within the Haitian National Police remains signifi-
cantly under-resourced, rendering it practically ineffective 
to carry out its mandate; 
Whereas in March 2009, the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights issued a report recognizing Haiti’s history 
of gender discrimination that fuels gender-based violence 
and gives rise to a climate of impunity; 
Whereas in December 2010, the Inter-American Commission 
detailed steps the Government of Haiti must take to pro-
tect women and girls from increased risk of gender-based 
violence in post-earthquake Haiti; 
Whereas in 2012, the Ministry for the Status of Women and 
Women’s Rights in Haiti plans to unveil a comprehensive 
draft law that calls for the prevention, punishment, and 
elimination of violence against women; 
Whereas the United Nations and donor countries, such as the 
United States, continue to have a prominent economic 
and leadership role in the stabilization and reconstruction 
of Haiti; 
Whereas few mechanisms exist in Haiti to protect the rights 
of young children not living at home, such as restaveks, 
who are engaged in forced labor, or victims to other 
forms of violence against them; and 
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•HRES 521 IH 
Whereas lack of protection for women and girls and con-
tinuing impunity for crimes against women is a threat to 
the rule of law, democracy, and stability in Haiti: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) sympathizes with the families of women and 
children victimized by sexual and other forms of gen-
der-based violence in Haiti; 
(2) urges the treatment of the issue of violence 
against women and children as a priority for the 
United States Government’s humanitarian and re-
construction efforts in Haiti; 
(3) asserts its support for the passage of Hai-
ti’s first comprehensive law on the prevention, pun-
ishment, and elimination of all forms of gender- 
based violence; 
(4) calls on the Government of Haiti to estab-
lish urgent plans that address the needs of vulner-
able and unprotected children who are in situations 
of sexual exploitation, forced labor, or face sexual 
and or domestic violence, and to take steps to imme-
diately implement those plans, in consultation with 
grassroots organizations working specifically on the 
protection and promotion of the rights of children; 
(5) calls on the Government of Haiti to take 
steps to implement the recommendations of the 
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Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 
issued in response to increased levels of sexual vio-
lence in camps for internally displaced persons on 
December 22, 2010, including— 
(A) ensuring participation and leadership 
of grassroots women’s groups in planning and 
implementing policies and practices to combat 
and prevent sexual violence and other forms of 
violence in the camps; 
(B) ensuring provision of comprehensive, 
affordable, adequate, and appropriate medical 
and psychological care in locations accessible to 
victims of sexual violence in camps for those in-
ternally displaced; 
(C) implementing effective security meas-
ures in displacement camps, such as providing 
street lighting, adequate patrolling in and 
around the camps, and a greater number of fe-
male security forces in police patrols in the 
camps and in police stations in proximity to the 
camps; 
(D) ensuring that public officials, such as 
police officers, prosecutors, and judges, respon-
sible for responding to incidents of sexual vio-
lence receive specialized training from experi-
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enced Haitian and international women’s orga-
nizations with a proven track record in gender- 
sensitive protection enabling them to respond 
adequately to complaints of sexual violence with 
appropriate sensitivity and in a nondiscrim-
inatory manner; and 
(E) maintaining effective special units 
within the police and the prosecutor’s office in-
vestigating cases of rape and other forms of vio-
lence against women and girls; 
(6) asserts its commitment to support the Hai-
tian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in its efforts to— 
(A) build ministry capacity, facilitate gen-
der-based violence sub-cluster meetings and ini-
tiatives as it transitions over to the Government 
of Haiti; 
(B) perform decentralized meetings, con-
sultations, and outreach to women’s movements 
and community groups; 
(C) address issues of gender-based violence 
country-wide, including violence in internally 
displaced person camps, rural peasant commu-
nities, and among children; and 
(D) strengthen gender assessments, gender 
budgets, and gender planning in collaboration 
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with other Haitian Ministries, the Haitian Par-
liament, the Haitian Administration, the United 
Nations, the Inter-American Commission on 
Human Rights, donors, and international non-
governmental organizations within the recon-
struction process; and 
(7) asserts its support for the Government of 
Haiti, especially the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in 
its efforts to assess, amend, and renew its 5-year 
gender protection plan, which expired in October 
2011, which includes support for the Haitian gov-
ernment in its efforts to accomplish the following— 
(A) thoroughly assess the impact of the 
previous 5-year protection plan, including both 
pre and post-earthquake analyses and perform 
diversified assessments in consultation with 
local, regional, and national women’s groups 
throughout the country, that will help gather 
decentralized data in both urban and rural 
zones; 
(B) perform specialized surveys and inter-
views in a significant sampling of internally dis-
placed person camps and impoverished neigh-
borhoods with high rates of gender-based vio-
lence with victims of rape and violence, the 
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