I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1340 
To prevent international violence against women, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 6, 2015 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HANNA, Mrs. 
LOWEY, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. HECK 
of Nevada, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. LANCE, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. 
MOORE, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. 
CICILLINE, and Mr. COLLINS of New York) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To prevent international violence against women, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘International Violence Against Women Act of 2015’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Statement of policy. 
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TITLE I—STRATEGY, POLICY, AND PROGRAMS 
Sec. 101. United States strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based vio-
lence globally. 
Sec. 102. Implementation of the United States strategy to prevent and respond 
to gender-based violence globally. 
Sec. 103. Monitoring the United States strategy to prevent and respond to gen-
der-based violence globally. 
TITLE II—OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
Sec. 201. Office of Global Women’s Issues. 
Sec. 202. Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. 
Sec. 203. Briefing. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) An estimated 1 out of every 3 women 
throughout the world will be beaten, coerced into 
sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. 
(2) Up to 70 percent of women in some coun-
tries report experiencing gender based violence at 
some point in their lives. 
(3) Intimate partner violence is the most preva-
lent form of violence against women, preventing 
women from playing more active roles in the social, 
economic, and political development of their commu-
nities. 
(4) Sexual violence among adolescents and pre- 
adolescents is alarmingly high. National surveys in 
Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Haiti 
have found that 28 to 38 percent of girls and 9 to 
18 percent of boys report experiencing sexual vio-
lence before the age of 18. 
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(5) Adult male respondents in 6 countries who 
had experienced violence as children were signifi-
cantly more likely to report perpetrating intimate 
partner violence themselves, according to the Inter-
national Men and Gender Equality Survey dataset. 
(6) Gender-based violence harms economies and 
the workers that fuel them. Despite underreporting, 
striking statistics document prevalent forms of gen-
der-based violence globally that affect the world of 
work. Worldwide, women are concentrated in low- 
wage, insecure jobs in workplaces where they lack 
bargaining power, protections against gender-based 
violence, safe and confidential reporting systems, re-
course to justice, or access to legal, medical, and 
psychosocial services. Conservative estimates of lost 
productivity as a result of gender-based violence 
range from 1.2 percent of GDP in Brazil and Tan-
zania to 2 percent of GDP in Brazil and Ban-
gladesh. 
(7) Women living in poverty are particularly 
vulnerable to gender-based violence. Lack of eco-
nomic opportunities often compels women to use 
desperate and dangerous means to provide for them-
selves and their families, risking significant exposure 
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to sexual exploitation and abuse. These women often 
cannot afford critical social and medical services. 
(8) Research conducted in India, Colombia, 
South Africa, and Uganda indicates that when 
women have greater control of assets, they are less 
likely to experience intimate partner violence. Addi-
tionally, when women participate in the economy 
they are able to develop a wider support network, 
which allows them to more easily escape intimate 
partner violence. 
(9) Gender-based violence impacts livelihoods 
and food security by reducing work capacity and 
productivity, including the ability to grow food for 
consumption. Studies have shown that women af-
fected by gender-based violence are exposed to ill-
nesses and injuries that hamper their ability to work 
productively and care for their families. Diminished 
food production consequently increases hunger and 
women’s vulnerability to further violence. 
(10) Country studies indicate that the risk of 
HIV among women who have experienced violence 
may be up to 3 times higher than among those who 
have not. The World Health Organization found that 
women who experience intimate partner violence are 
at over 50 percent greater risk of HIV infection, and 
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in some instances their risk increases four-fold. 
Women living with HIV are more likely to experi-
ence violence than other women, and fear of violence 
can prevent women from accessing HIV/AIDS infor-
mation and receiving treatment and counseling. 
(11) Addressing gender norms and inequities is 
essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access 
to HIV prevention, care and treatment services for 
women and men. The President’s Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports significant 
work in the field to incorporate efforts to prevent 
and respond to gender-based violence into existing 
HIV treatment and prevention programs. In fiscal 
year 2012, PEPFAR investments reached 720,000 
people in 11 countries with services or interventions 
that explicitly addressed gender-based violence and 
coercion. 
(12) Prevalence of sexual violence is higher 
among persons with disabilities, particularly for ado-
lescents and intimate partners with disabilities, and 
for men and women with intellectual impairments 
living in institutions. The World Health Organiza-
tion reports that rates of gender-based violence are 
4–10 times greater among persons with disabilities 
than non-disabled persons. 
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(13) Displaced, refugee, and stateless women 
and girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict set-
tings, and natural disasters face extreme violence 
and threats, including— 
(A) being forced to exchange sex for food 
and humanitarian supplies; and 
(B) being at increased risk of rape, sexual 
exploitation and abuse. 
(14) Rape and sexual assault against women 
and girls are used to torture, intimidate, and ter-
rorize communities. Rape and sexual assault are 
used as tools of war in conflict zones including 
Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Syria, Afghani-
stan, Colombia, and South Sudan. A 2011 study 
found that 48 women were raped every hour in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo. 
(15) Early and forced marriage of girls— 
(A) is a harmful practice that deprives 
girls of their dignity and rights and creates bar-
riers to development for communities and coun-
tries; 
(B) is projected to affect more than 140 
million girls who will become brides between 
2011 and 2020; 
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(C) can prematurely end girls’ education, 
increase vulnerability to gender-based violence, 
and significantly raise the risk of maternal and 
infant morbidity or mortality, including the risk 
of obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted dis-
eases, including HIV/AIDS; 
(D) is perpetuated by poverty, a lack of 
educational or employment opportunities for 
girls, and religious, cultural and social factors 
related to girls’ perceived lack of value. These 
factors become particularly acute in conflict and 
disaster settings where fears of sexual violence 
often drive early, child and forced marriage. 
(16) Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/ 
C) is carried out most often on girls between infancy 
and age fifteen and has impacted more than 125 
million girls and women alive today. FGM/C can 
cause long-term health problems including infertility, 
complications in childbirth, and increased risk of 
newborn deaths. 
(17) World Bank data shows that gender in-
equality directly corresponds to increased levels of 
political and economic instability within countries. 
Gender-based violence impedes women’s meaningful 
participation in social, political, and economic 
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spheres, which is essential to the stability and de-
mocratization of a country. Since women dispropor-
tionately experience gender-based violence during 
conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, they can 
play a pivotal role in preventing, mitigating, resolv-
ing conflict, and countering extremism, evidenced in 
contexts including Northern Ireland and Liberia. 
(18) Gender-based violence is a contributing 
factor to human trafficking. Experts in the field 
have reported that women and girls who have experi-
enced gender-based violence and live in societies that 
tolerate severe gender discrimination appear to be 
more vulnerable to being trafficked. Comprehensive 
efforts to reduce human trafficking must include ef-
forts to prevent and respond to gender-based vio-
lence due to the intertwined relationship of the two 
crimes. 
(19) Faith-based organizations and faith lead-
ers have an important role to play in the ongoing ef-
forts to prevent and respond to gender-based vio-
lence. Where engaged as genuine partners and 
equipped with knowledge and resources, they can 
yield great gains. In countries that lack effective 
legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, 
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they have the standing and authority to address 
harmful practices such as acid throwing. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States— 
(1) to take effective action to prevent and re-
spond to violence against women and girls around 
the world, as a matter of basic human rights as well 
as to promote gender equality, economic growth, and 
improved public health; 
(2) to systematically integrate and coordinate 
efforts to prevent and respond to violence against 
women and girls internationally into United States 
foreign policy and foreign assistance programs, in-
cluding peace-building efforts and humanitarian re-
lief and recovery; 
(3) to support and build local capacity in devel-
oping countries, including of governments at all lev-
els and nongovernmental organizations, especially 
women-led organizations, to prevent and respond to 
violence against women and girls; 
(4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and col-
laborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental 
partners with demonstrated experience in preventing 
and responding to violence against women and girls, 
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including faith-based organizations and women-led 
organizations; 
(5) to employ a multisectoral approach to pre-
venting and responding to violence against women 
and girls internationally, including activities in the 
economic, education, health, nutrition, legal, and ju-
dicial sectors; 
(6) to work at all levels, from the individual to 
the family, community, local, national and inter-
national levels, to prevent and respond to violence 
against women and girls around the globe; 
(7) to enhance training by United States per-
sonnel of professional foreign military and police 
forces and judicial officials to include specific and 
through instruction on preventing and responding to 
violence against women and girls around the world; 
(8) to engage men and boys as partners, as an 
essential element of making sustained reductions in 
violence against women and girls; 
(9) to include the prevention of early and forced 
marriage as an important part of United States 
Government efforts to prevent violence against girls 
and promote gender equality and global health; 
(10) to require that all United States contrac-
tors and grantees establish appropriate policies and 
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