Title: Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2019
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2019
This bill authorizes the Department of State to enter into bilateral agreements with the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to assist such countries in addressing violence against women and children.
Such agreements shall establish a plan to achieve certain objectives, such as (1) identifying areas of the highest incidence of violence against women and children, (2) evaluating victims' access to justice and the ability of the justice system to hold perpetrators accountable, and (3) identifying measurable goals to deter crimes against women and children.
The State Department may assist the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras if such a government enters into an agreement with the United States, but no funds provided under this bill may be given directly to such a government.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2836 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2836

  To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal 
     years 2020 through 2022 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2019

Mrs. Torres of California (for herself and Mrs. Wagner) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal 
     years 2020 through 2022 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 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, 
        Honduras, and Guatemala have among the highest homicide rates 
        in the world. In 2017, there were 60 homicides per 100,000 
        people in El Salvador, 43.6 homicides per 100,000 people in 
        Honduras, and 26.1 homicides per 100,000 people in Guatemala.
            (2) Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are characterized 
        by a high prevalence of drug- and gang-related violence, 
        murder, and crimes involving sexual- and gender-based violence. 
        The region also has high rates of domestic violence, child 
        abuse, and sexual assault.
            (3) Central America ranks high among regions of the world 
        for female homicides. A combined 801 women were victims of 
        homicide in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala in 2017 alone, 
        according to the United Nations Office of Drug Control and 
        Crime.
            (4) El Salvador and Honduras are both 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 are fleeing 
        unsafe homes and communities each month in these countries due 
        to surging violence.
            (6) Violent crimes against women and children are 
        substantially under-reported because the majority of victims 
        lack safe access to protection and justice.
            (7) Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador governments allow 
        impunity for perpetrators of violence against women and 
        children, with less than 10 percent of reported cases resulting 
        in conviction.
            (8) According to a study conducted by the Woodrow Wilson 
        International Center for Scholars, childhood experiences with 
        domestic violence in Latin America are a major risk factor for 
        future criminal behavior. Fifty-six 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 
is authorized to enter into bilateral agreements with the Governments 
of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (in this Act referred to as 
``Compact Countries'') to be known as Women and Children Protection 
Compacts (in this Act referred to as ``Compacts''), for the purposes 
of--
            (1) strengthening the Compact Countries' criminal justice 
        systems and civil protection courts to protect women and 
        children and serve victims of domestic violence, sexual 
        assault, and child abuse and neglect and hold perpetrators 
        accountable;
            (2) securing, creating, and sustaining safe communities, 
        building on current place-based approaches to prevent and deter 
        violence against women and children;
            (3) ensuring schools are safe and promoting the prevention 
        and early detection of gender-based and domestic abuse within 
        communities in the Compact Countries; and
            (4) providing security within the region to families and 
        unaccompanied children fleeing domestic, gang, or drug 
        violence.
    (b) Components of Compact.--A Compact shall establish a 3 to 6 year 
plan for achieving shared objectives articulated in Compacts, in 
furtherance of the purposes of this Act, and shall include--
            (1) identification of areas of highest incidence of 
        violence against women and children;
            (2) evaluation of women and child victims' access to 
        protection and justice;
            (3) evaluation of justice system capacity to respond to 
        reports of femicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, and 
        child abuse and neglect and to hold perpetrators accountable;
            (4) identification of measurable goals to protect women and 
        children to deter crimes against them that the Compact commits 
        to achieve during the term of the Compact;
            (5) indicators to monitor and measure progress toward 
        achieving these objectives, including reductions in prevalence 
        of femicide, sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse 
        and neglect; and
            (6) provisions to ensure funds provided under the Compact 
        may be fully accounted for with an adequate audit trail.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Assistance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of 
the United States Agency for International Development are authorized 
to provide assistance to assist the Government of El Salvador, the 
Government of Guatemala, or the Government of Honduras if the country 
enters into a Compact.
    (b) Prohibition of Direct Assistance.--No funds provided pursuant 
to this Act shall be provided directly to the Governments of El 
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $20,000,00 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022 
to carry out this Act.
    (d) Suspension of Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may suspend or terminate 
        assistance authorized by this Act to any of the three countries 
        if the Secretary determines that--
                    (A) the country's government is engaged in 
                activities that are contrary to the national security 
                interests of the United States;
                    (B) the country or recipient entity has engaged in 
                a pattern of actions inconsistent with the criteria 
                used to determine the eligibility of the country or 
                entity, as the case may be; or
                    (C) the country or recipient entity has failed to 
                make sufficient progress to meet the goals of the 
                Compact.
            (2) Reinstatement.--The Secretary may reinstate assistance 
        for a country or entity suspended or terminated under this 
        paragraph only if the Secretary certifies to Congress that the 
        country or entity has taken steps to correct each condition for 
        which assistance was suspended or terminated under paragraph 
        (1).

SEC. 5. COMPACT PROGRESS REPORTS AND BRIEFING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall submit to Congress 
not later than September 30 of each fiscal year covered by the 
authorization a joint report that contains a detailed description of 
the implementation of the Compacts during the prior year.
    (b) Contents.--The report under subsection (a) for fiscal year 2022 
shall include--
            (1) information on the overall rates of gender-based 
        violence in the Northern Triangle countries, including by using 
        victimization surveys, regardless of whether or not these acts 
        of violence are reported to government authorities;
            (2) information on incidences of gender-based violence 
        cases reported to the authorities in the Northern Triangle 
        countries and the percentage of perpetrators investigated, 
        apprehended, prosecuted, and convicted;
            (3) information on the capacity and resource allocation of 
        child welfare systems in each Northern Triangle country to 
        protect unaccompanied children, including runaways and refugee 
        returnees in Northern Triangle countries;
            (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 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; and
            (8) independent external evaluation of funded programs, 
        including compliance with terms of the Compacts by all parties.
    (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 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a briefing on the data 
and information collected pursuant to this section and the steps taken 
to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child 
abuse and neglect.
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