Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.4017 | Sponsor: Rep. Torres, Norma J. (D-CA)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2021
This bill temporarily authorizes the Department of State to enter into bilateral compacts with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to strengthen criminal justice systems, social supports, and other means to protect women and children from domestic and gender-based violence.
At least 15 days before entering a compact, the State Department must submit to Congress a copy of the proposed agreement and related materials. Authority to enter a compact terminates on September 30, 2023, and a compact may last no more than six years.
To support the objectives outlined in a compact, the State Department may provide assistance to international organizations, civil society, or other private entities for programs and activities to prevent and respond to domestic and gender-based violence in a compact country. The bill bars the provision of assistance to the government of a compact country as direct budgetary support.
The State Department may suspend or terminate the assistance if a compact country or entity receiving the assistance engaged in conduct contrary to U.S. national security interests or inconsistent with the objectives of the compact. The State Department must notify Congress at least 15 days before suspending or terminating assistance.
The bill also requires the State Department to annually report on progress made under each compact, including its effect on reported violence against women and children and other domestic and gender-based violence indicators.

To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal 
     years 2021 through 2023 to provide assistance to El Salvador, 
    Guatemala, and Honduras through bilateral compacts to increase 
  protection of women and children in their homes and communities and 
    reduce female homicides, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Central American Women and Children 
Protection Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, 
        Guatemala, and Honduras have among the highest homicide rates 
        in the world. In 2020, there were--
                    (A) 19.7 homicides per 100,000 people in El 
                Salvador;
                    (B) 15.4 homicides per 100,000 people in Guatemala; 
                and
                    (C) 37.6 homicides per 100,000 people in Honduras.
            (2) El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are characterized 
        by a high prevalence of drug- and gang-related violence, 
        murder, and crimes involving sexual- and gender-based violence 
        against women and children, including domestic violence, child 
        abuse, and sexual assault.
            (3) In 2019, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras were all 
        listed among the 7 countries in the Latin America and Caribbean 
        region with the highest rates of femicides (the intentional 
        killing of women or girls because of their gender). In 2019--
                    (A) 113 women in El Salvador were victims of 
                femicide;
                    (B) 160 women in Guatemala were victims of 
                femicide; and
                    (C) 299 women in Honduras were victims of femicide 
                or violent homicide.
            (4) In 2015, El Salvador and Honduras were among the top 3 
        countries in the world with the highest child homicides rates, 
        with more than 22 and 32 deaths per 100,000 children, 
        respectively, according to the nongovernmental organization 
        Save the Children.
            (5) Thousands of women, children, and families from El 
        Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras fled unsafe homes and 
        communities in 2019.
            (6) Violent crimes against women and children are generally 
        assumed to be substantially under-reported because the majority 
        of victims lack safe access to protection and justice.
            (7) Impunity for perpetrators of violence against women is 
        rampant in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. There was a 5 
        percent conviction rate for violence against women in El 
        Salvador in 2016 and 2017. The impunity level for violence 
        against women in Guatemala was 97.05 percent in 2018. In 2018, 
        there was an impunity rate of 95 percent for violence against 
        women in Honduras.
            (8) According to a study conducted by the Woodrow Wilson 
        International Center for Scholars--
                    (A) childhood experiences with domestic violence in 
                Latin America are a major risk factor for future 
                criminal behavior; and
                    (B) 56 percent of incarcerated women and 59 percent 
                of incarcerated men surveyed experienced intra-familial 
                violence during childhood.

SEC. 3. WOMEN AND CHILDREN PROTECTION COMPACTS.

    (a) Authorization To Enter Into Compacts.--The Secretary of State, 
in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, is authorized to enter into multi-year, 
bilateral agreements of not longer than 6 years in duration, developed 
in conjunction with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
Honduras (referred to in this Act as ``Compact Countries''). Such 
agreements shall be known as Women and Children Protection Compacts 
(referred to in this Act as ``Compacts'').
    (b) Purpose.--Each Compact shall--
            (1) set out the shared goals and objectives of the United 
        States and the government of the Compact Country; and
            (2) be aimed at strengthening the Compact Country's 
        efforts--
                    (A) to strengthen criminal justice and civil court 
                systems to protect women and children and serve victims 
                of domestic violence, sexual violence, and child 
                exploitation and neglect, and hold perpetrators 
                accountable;
                    (B) to secure, create, and sustain safe 
                communities, building on best practices to prevent and 
                deter violence against women and children;
                    (C) to ensure that schools are safe and promote the 
                prevention and early detection of domestic abuse 
                against women and children within communities; and
                    (D) to increase access to high-quality, life-saving 
                health care, including post-rape and dignity kits, 
                psychosocial support, and dedicated spaces and shelters 
                for gender-based violence survivors, in accordance with 
                international standards.
    (c) Compact Elements.--Each Compact shall--
            (1) establish a 3- to 6-year cooperative strategy and 
        assistance plan for achieving the shared goals and objectives 
        articulated in such Compact;
            (2) be informed by the assessments of--
                    (A) the areas within the Compact Country 
                experiencing the highest incidence of violence against 
                women and children;
                    (B) the ability of women and children to access 
                protection and obtain effective judicial relief; and
                    (C) the judicial capacity to respond to reports 
                within the Compact Country of femicide, sexual and 
                domestic violence, and child exploitation and neglect, 
                and to hold the perpetrators of such criminal acts 
                accountable;
            (3) seek to address the driving forces of violence against 
        women and children, which shall include efforts to break the 
        binding constraints to inclusive economic growth and access to 
        justice;
            (4) identify clear and measurable goals, objectives, and 
        benchmarks under the Compact to detect, deter and respond to 
        violence against women and children;
            (5) set out clear roles, responsibilities, and objectives 
        under the Compact, which shall include a description of the 
        anticipated policy and financial commitments of the central 
        government of the Compact Country;
            (6) seek to leverage and deconflict contributions and 
        complementary programming by other donors, international 
        organizations, multilateral institutions, regional 
        organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and the private 
        sector, as appropriate;
            (7) include a description of the metrics and indicators to 
        monitor and measure progress toward achieving the goals, 
        objectives, and benchmarks under the Compact, including 
        reductions in the prevalence of femicide, sexual assault, 
        domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect;
            (8) provide for the conduct of an impact evaluation not 
        later than 1 year after the conclusion of the Compact; and
            (9) provide for a full accounting of all funds expended 
        under the Compact, which shall include full audit authority for 
        the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State, 
        the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Agency 
        for International Development, and the Government 
        Accountability Office, as appropriate.
    (d) Sunset.--The authority to enter into Compacts under this Act 
shall expire on September 30, 2023.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Assistance.--The Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, is authorized to provide assistance under this section.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to 
carry out this Act.
    (c) Implementers.--Assistance authorized under subsection (a) may 
be provided through grants, cooperative agreements, contracts or other 
innovative financing instruments to civil society, international 
organizations, or other private entities with relevant expertise.
    (d) Prohibition on Funding to Central Governments.--No funds 
appropriated pursuant to subsection (b) may be provided as direct 
budgetary support to the Government of El Salvador, the Government of 
Guatemala, or the Government of Honduras.
    (e) Suspension of Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State, in coordination 
        with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development, may suspend or terminate assistance 
        authorized under this Act if the Secretary determines that the 
        Compact Country or implementing entity--
                    (A) is engaged in activities that are contrary to 
                the national security interests of the United States;
                    (B) has engaged in a pattern of actions 
                inconsistent with the goals, objectives, commitments, 
                or obligations under the Compact; or
                    (C) has failed to make sufficient progress toward 
                meeting the goals, objectives, commitments, or 
                obligations under the Compact.
            (2) Reinstatement.--The Secretary of State, in coordination 
        with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development, may reinstate assistance suspended 
        or terminated pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the Secretary 
        certifies to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 
        and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives that the Compact Country or implementing entity 
        has taken steps to correct each condition for which assistance 
        was suspended or terminated under paragraph (1).
            (3) Notification and report.--Not later than 15 days before 
        suspending or terminating assistance pursuant to paragraph (1), 
        the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator of the 
        United States Agency for International Development, shall 
        notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of 
        the suspension or termination, including a justification for 
        such action.

SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.

    Not later than 15 days before entering into a Compact with the 
Government of Guatemala, the Government of Honduras, or the Government 
of El Salvador, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives--
            (1) a copy of the proposed Compact;
            (2) a detailed summary of the cooperative strategy and 
        assistance plan required under section 3(c); and
            (3) a copy of any annexes, appendices, or implementation 
        plans related to the Compact.

SEC. 6. COMPACT PROGRESS REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS.

    (a) Progress Report.--Not later than 1 year after entering into a 
Compact, and annually during the life of the Compact, the Secretary of 
State, in coordination with the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, shall submit a report to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives describing the progress 
made under the Compact.
    (b) Contents.--The report under subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) analysis and information on the overall rates of 
        gender-based violence against women and children in El 
        Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, including by using survivor 
        surveys, regardless of whether or not these acts of violence 
        are reported to government authorities;
            (2) analysis and information on incidences of cases of 
        gender-based violence against women and children reported to 
        the authorities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and 
        the percentage of alleged perpetrators investigated, 
        apprehended, prosecuted, and convicted;
            (3) analysis and information on the capacity and resource 
        allocation of child welfare systems in El Salvador, Guatemala, 
        and Honduras to protect unaccompanied children;
            (4) the percentage of reported violence against women and 
        children cases reaching conviction;
            (5) a baseline and percentage changes in women and children 
        victims receiving legal and other social services;
            (6) a baseline and percentage changes in school retention 
        rates;
            (7) a baseline and changes in capacity of police, 
        prosecution service, and courts to combat violence against 
        women and children;
            (8) a baseline and changes in capacity of health, 
        protection, and other relevant ministries to support survivors 
        of gender-based violence; and
            (9) independent external evaluation of funded programs, 
        including compliance with terms of the Compacts by El Salvador, 
        Guatemala, and Honduras, and by the recipients of the 
        assistance.
    (c) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development shall provide a 
briefing to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
regarding--
            (1) the data and information collected pursuant to this 
        section; and
            (2) the steps taken to protect and assist victims of 
        domestic violence, sexual violence, and child exploitation and 
        neglect.
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