IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 61 
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 
FEBRUARY 6, 2013 
Ms. WILSON
of Florida (for herself, Ms. BROWN
of Florida, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. NORTON, 
Mr. HONDA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, Mrs. 
CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 
MORAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, and Mr. 
THOMPSON of Mississippi) 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 tens of thousands of women and girls have been vic-
tims of sexual or gender-based violence in Haiti, particu-
larly in times of conflict or natural disaster; 
Whereas women’s rights groups in Haiti have witnessed dra-
matic increases in rates of sexual violence in many of the 
displacement camps established after the earthquake; 
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•HRES 61 IH 
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 medical providers have reported as many as 20 per-
cent of adolescent victims of sexual violence becoming 
pregnant as a result of rape; 
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 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 according to data from public interest law firms in-
volved in prosecuting cases of sexual violence, significant 
gender-based barriers to justice continue to exist at all 
levels of the Haitian justice system; 
Whereas members of the police, prosecutors, and judges are 
insufficiently trained to attend to either the special needs 
of victims of gender-based violence, or the special needs 
of those individuals who are victims of other abuses such 
as forced labor, beatings, or violence; 
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 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 and especially vulnerable 
to sexual violence; 
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•HRES 61 IH 
Whereas the lack of physical protection 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 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 un-
dermines the ability to hold perpetrators accountable for 
their crimes and discourages victims from formally seek-
ing justice; 
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; 
Whereas the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women’s 
Rights in Haiti has been working on a comprehensive law 
that calls for the prevention, punishment, and elimination 
of violence against women; 
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-
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