IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1068 
Condemning rape and sexual violence against women. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 8, 2024 
Mrs. DINGELL (for herself, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. SALINAS, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. 
GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. WILD, Ms. 
GARCIA of Texas, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. 
MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 
ESPAILLAT, Mr. CASAR, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. STANSBURY) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad-
dition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning rape and sexual violence against women. 
Whereas violence against women is a global crisis that causes 
devastating harm to women, their children, and their 
communities; 
Whereas there has been greater attention across the world on 
violence against women, especially when it is despicably 
used as a tool of war; 
Whereas rape, sexual violence, and gender-based violence are 
horrific in any context, but are especially heinous when 
weaponized during conflicts; 
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•HRES 1068 IH 
Whereas rape and sexual violence have unjustly been used as 
weapons of war for centuries to target ethnic, political, 
or cultural rivals, torment civilian populations, and assert 
and maintain control; 
Whereas rape and sexual violence continue to be weaponized 
during modern conflicts; 
Whereas multiple news organizations have reported accounts 
of sexual violence against women perpetrated by Hamas 
during the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel, a re-
port from Physicians for Human Rights Israel has raised 
concerns that the October 7 Hamas attacks included 
many incidents of sexual assault following repetitive pat-
terns, and photographic and eyewitness evidence of the 
sexual violence that was weaponized by Hamas during 
the attacks was presented during a United Nations ses-
sion on sexual and gender-based violence; 
Whereas since fighting began in Sudan between the Sudanese 
Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces 
(RSF) in April 2023, United Nations experts have raised 
concerns about the reported escalation of violence against 
women, including sexual exploitation, slavery, trafficking, 
rape, and forced disappearances that appear to have been 
racially, ethnically, and politically motivated, according to 
the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for 
Human Rights; 
Whereas the Independent International Commission of In-
quiry on Ukraine has evidence that Russian soldiers have 
raped and committed other forms of sexual violence 
against women between the ages of 16 and 83 since the 
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022; 
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•HRES 1068 IH 
Whereas gender-based violence has been a widespread prob-
lem in Myanmar, and sexual violence has become more 
brutal and widespread since the 2021 military coup, ac-
cording to the Karenni National Women’s Organization; 
Whereas sexual- and gender-based violence against women 
and girls was highly prevalent during and since the con-
flict in Tigray, Ethiopia, that started in November 2020, 
according to several studies; 
Whereas armed gangs in Haiti have used sexual violence, in-
cluding collective rapes, since at least 2018, to instill 
fear, punish, subjugate, and inflict pain on local popu-
lations to expand their control, according to the United 
Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner; 
Whereas abuse and assault targeting women and girls in 
Yemen has increased 63 percent since the start of the 
war in 2015, with adolescent girls among the most vul-
nerable, according to the United Nations; 
Whereas it is estimated that over 25,000 people were victims 
of sexual- and gender-based crimes in Uganda during the 
decades-long conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army 
that began in 1987, according to the International Center 
for Transnational Justice, and high rates of gender-based 
violence across the country continue to jeopardize the 
lives of women; 
Whereas decades of conflict with Israel have resulted in high 
levels of poverty, instability, and deteriorating living con-
ditions in Gaza that have increased the risk of violence 
for Palestinian women and girls, according to the United 
Nations Population Fund, and the outbreak of war be-
tween Israel and Hamas and worsening humanitarian cri-
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•HRES 1068 IH 
sis in Gaza is compounding the risks women and children 
already faced; 
Whereas 59 percent of Palestinian women and girls have re-
ported experiencing at least one form of gender-based vi-
olence, according to the United Nations Population 
Fund, and news outlets have reported that Palestinian 
women have been harassed at checkpoints and while in 
custody, according to testimony submitted to the United 
Nations; 
Whereas conflict-related sexual violence is vastly under-
reported; 
Whereas rape and other forms of sexual violence are prohib-
ited under international law; 
Whereas the Rome Statute of the International Criminal 
Court considers rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitu-
tion, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any 
other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity as 
crimes against humanity; 
Whereas women are disproportionately affected by sexual vio-
lence during conflict; 
Whereas sexual violence against the LGBTQIA+ community 
during conflict is a component of gender-based violence, 
linked to the imposition of moral codes and societal 
norms that directly target the ability of all sexual and 
gender identities to live freely, according to LGBTQIA+ 
human rights organizations; 
Whereas the consequences of sexual violence affect women be-
yond the cessation of conflict, including pregnancy, sexu-
ally transmitted infections, stigmatization, and a lack of 
access to health care; 
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•HRES 1068 IH 
Whereas sexual and gender-based violence outside of conflict 
times continues to jeopardize the lives of women; 
Whereas at least 32 percent of women have experienced phys-
ical violence in Pakistan, according to the United Nations 
Population Fund, and honor killings continue to take the 
lives of hundreds of Pakistani women each year, accord-
ing to Human Rights Watch; 
Whereas, since the Women Life Freedom protests that erupt-
ed in Iran in September 2022, there has been docu-
mented widespread use of violence and mistreatment, in-
cluding sexual harassment, against those who have been 
arrested, according to Human Rights Watch; 
Whereas gender inequity and sexual violence are inextricably 
linked, and gender inequality can fuel harmful cultural 
and societal norms that affect women’s economic status 
and impact women’s access to education, supportive serv-
ices, and legal protections; 
Whereas other inequities caused by poverty, gender identity, 
disability, sexual orientation, income, race, and immigra-
tion status, among others, increase women’s vulnerability 
to experiencing sexual violence; 
Whereas violence against women continues to be a pervasive 
issue that extends across borders, and an estimated 
736,000,000 women worldwide have been subjected to 
physical or sexual violence at least once in their lives; 
Whereas sexual violence remains a serious problem in the 
United States; 
Whereas sexual violence impacts millions of women within the 
United States every year, and women from racial and 
ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected; 
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•HRES 1068 IH 
Whereas gender-based violence is prevalent in settings that 
are embedded in the fabric of United States society, in-
cluding college campuses, the military, the workplace, 
and prisons; and 
Whereas more must be done to eliminate sexual violence both 
within the United States and communities across the 
world: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns violence against women in all 
forms, at all times, and across all circumstances; 
(2) condemns the weaponization of rape, sexual 
violence, and gender-based violence during conflicts; 
(3) stands with survivors of rape, sexual vio-
lence, and gender-based violence in the United 
States and nations across the globe; 
(4) recognizes and honors individuals and orga-
nizations across the globe who are working to elimi-
nate gender-based violence; 
(5) reaffirms a commitment to eliminating sex-
ual violence and gender-based violence within the 
United States and abroad; and 
(6) calls on members of the international com-
munity— 
(A) to enact laws protecting survivors and 
holding perpetrators of violence accountable for 
their actions; and 
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•HRES 1068 IH 
(B) to prioritize the elimination of gender- 
based violence in conflict settings. 
Æ 
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