•HRES 61 IH 
lice units to address sexual and other forms of gender- 
based violence in Haiti; 
Whereas the United Nations and donor countries, including 
the United States, continue to play a significant role in 
post-earthquake stabilization and reconstruction of Haiti; 
Whereas the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment (USAID) has prioritized the prevention of, and re-
sponse to, gender-based violence as a priority in its work 
across all sectors and as an explicit goal of the new 
USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Pol-
icy; 
Whereas USAID and the United States Department of State 
have been directed by Executive order of the President to 
implement a new interagency United States Strategy To 
Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally; 
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; and 
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: 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 
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•HRES 61 IH 
United States Government’s humanitarian and re-
construction efforts in Haiti; 
(3) recognizes that the problem of gender-based 
violence is a surmountable one; 
(4) affirms that prioritizing economic opportu-
nities for Haitian women that enable them to lift 
themselves and their families out of poverty is a 
cost-effective way to help reduce gender-based vio-
lence; 
(5) recognizes the urgent opportunity to imple-
ment the new United States Agency for Inter-
national Development (USAID) Gender Equality 
and Female Empowerment Policy and United States 
Strategy To Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based 
Violence Globally and on the ground in Haiti; 
(6) 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; 
(7) 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 domestic violence, and to take steps to imme-
diately implement those plans, in consultation with 
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•HRES 61 IH 
grassroots organizations working specifically on the 
protection and promotion of the rights of children; 
(8) calls on the Government of Haiti to take 
steps to implement the recommendations of the 
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; 
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•HRES 61 IH 
(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-
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; 
(9) asserts its commitment to support the Hai-
tian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in its efforts to— 
(A) build ministry capacity and facilitate 
gender-based violence subcluster meetings and 
initiatives as it transitions over to the Govern-
ment 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 
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displaced person camps, rural communities, and 
among children; and 
(D) strengthen gender assessments, gender 
budgets, and gender planning in collaboration 
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 
(10) 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; 
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