Title: Encouraging all nations to end sexual violence against girls through in-country data-driven reforms.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution recognizes sexual violence against girls as a serious global issue. The resolution encourages the implementation of certain measures to protect girls from abuse, including (1) increased international efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation and cutting, and (2) the widespread dissemination of surveys that measure levels of sexual violence.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 714 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 714

 Encouraging all nations to end sexual violence against girls through 
                    in-country data-driven reforms.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 2021

 Ms. Wild (for herself, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Keating, 
 Ms. Norton, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Escobar, and Mr. Costa) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
 on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 
 Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Encouraging all nations to end sexual violence against girls through 
                    in-country data-driven reforms.

Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has had a well-documented adverse impact on 
        already-alarming rates of violence against women and girls around the 
        world;
Whereas the 2006 United Nations World Report on Violence Against Children 
        galvanized many nations in their commitment to face the challenge of 
        ending all violence, including sexual violence, against children in 
        stating, ``No violence is justifiable, and all violence is 
        preventable.'';
Whereas sexual violence against girls is a plague that spares no culture, 
        country, race, religion, or ethnicity across the globe;
Whereas data from United Nations Children's Fund indicate up to 50 percent of 
        sexual assaults worldwide are committed against girls under 16 years of 
        age;
Whereas sexual violence against girls and the lifelong consequences impede their 
        potential contributions to society and present a major obstacle for 
        nations in the journey to self-reliance with political and economic 
        stability;
Whereas sexual violence during childhood is associated with serious immediate 
        and long-term health impacts including but not limited to higher rates 
        of pregnancy, maternal mortality, suicide, depression, substance abuse, 
        heart disease, obesity, and HIV/AIDS;
Whereas girls and young women have the highest risk of experiencing sexual 
        violence and currently account for around 74 percent of new HIV 
        infections in sub-Saharan Africa, totaling 1,000 newly infected young 
        women each day;
Whereas complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death 
        among girls 15 to 19 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa where 90 percent 
        of adolescent pregnancies are associated with child marriage;
Whereas female genital mutilation/cutting (referred to in this resolution as 
        ``FGM/C''), an invasive procedure with no medical necessity, represents 
        a form of gender-based discrimination, is recognized internationally as 
        a violation of the human rights of girls and women and can be recognized 
        as sexual violence;
Whereas, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (referred to in this 
        resolution as ``UNICEF''), over 200,000,000 women and girls living today 
        endured the irreversible procedure FGM/C and according to the World 
        Health Organization, over 3,000,000 additional girls around the globe 
        are at risk of suffering FGM/C each year;
Whereas FGM/C causes irreparable deformation, pain, bleeding, and increased risk 
        of HIV infection, and can result in complications such as shock, 
        fistulas, complications of childbirth, and death;
Whereas sexual violence against children, as defined by the Centers for Disease 
        Control and Prevention (referred to in this resolution as the ``CDC''), 
        includes all forms of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children;
Whereas sexual violence against children encompasses a range of acts, including 
        completed nonconsensual sex acts (such as rape), attempted nonconsensual 
        sex acts, abusive sexual contact (such as unwanted touching), and 
        noncontact sexual abuse (such as threatened sexual violence, 
        exhibitionism, verbal sexual harassment, and use of explicit images);
Whereas recognizing the need for data and evidence to guide actions to end 
        violence against children, the CDC partnered with UNICEF Swaziland (now 
        Eswatini) and the Government of Eswatini to develop and implement the 
        scientifically sound surveillance tool, Violence Against Children and 
        Youth Surveys (referred to in this resolution as ``VACS'');
Whereas VACS are nationally representative household surveys designed to define 
        the magnitude, nature, and consequences of sexual, physical, and 
        emotional violence among children and adolescents;
Whereas the governments of 23 nations (Botswana, Cambodia, Colombia, Cote 
        d'Ivoire, El Salvador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, 
        Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Malawi, Moldova, 
        Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and 
        Zimbabwe) demonstrated leadership in addressing the pandemic of sexual 
        violence against girls through the implementation of VACS as part of the 
        Together for Girls partnership, with technical support from the CDC and 
        coordination from multiple stakeholders, including UNICEF and others;
Whereas published VACS data from 21 countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, 
        Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa revealed that--

    (1) as many as 38 percent of girls (in Zimbabwe and Eswatini) and 35 
percent of boys (in Uganda) experienced sexual violence before the age of 
18;

    (2) in sub-Saharan Africa--

    G    (A) for 1 in 4 girls, their first sexual intercourse experience 
was forced or coerced;

    G    (B) 1 of 3 girls who experienced unwanted sex became pregnant 
before the age of 18;

    G    (C) two-thirds of boys who experience sexual violence report 
mental distress later in life; and

    G    (D) sexual violence against children and adolescents was 
associated with a 370-percent increase in the incidence of HIV infection, a 
350-percent increase in the incidence of unwanted pregnancies, and a 200-
percent increase in attempted suicides;

    (3) the most common perpetrators of sexual violence are people known to 
the victims;

    (4) only about half of the victims of childhood sexual violence tell 
anyone;

    (5) in Colombia, 42 percent of boys experienced sexual, physical, or 
emotional violence in childhood and of those boys, none received help;

    (6) in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, 54 percent of boys 
reported experiencing physical violence before the age of 18;

    (7) children, adolescents, and youth experience different 
vulnerabilities at different ages;

    (8) in Moldova, among girls who experienced sexual violence, 8 percent 
experienced sexual violence for the first time at the age of 8 or younger, 
22 percent experienced sexual violence for the first time from age 14 to 
15, and 70 percent experienced sexual violence for the first time from age 
16 to 17;

    (9) experiences of sexual violence often lead to increased risk of 
suicidal ideation; and

    (10) in Honduras, 41 percent of girls who experienced sexual violence 
reported thoughts of suicide, compared to 10 percent of girls who did not 
experience sexual violence;

Whereas the formation of data-driven action plans utilizes INSPIRE, a World 
        Health Organization technical package of proven strategies to reduce 
        violence;
Whereas INSPIRE guided action plans result in significant progress in 
        strengthening protection for youth, including--

    (1) in response to a 38-percent prevalence of childhood sexual violence 
among girls, the Government of Eswatini drafted the first law in their 
country making sexual abuse of minors illegal;

    (2) across multiple countries around the world, governments, civil 
society organizations, and health, justice, and education practitioners 
have increased efforts to improve services for survivors and launched 
cross-sectoral efforts to end sexual violence against children;

    (3) countries such as Tanzania and Nigeria, where violence in schools 
was noted to be high, developed policies, codes, and protective guidelines 
for teachers and schools;

    (4) reforms in Uganda, such as expansion of the No Means No! program to 
20,000 adolescent girls and implementation of the Coaching Boys into Men 
program, contributing to a significant decrease in the incidence of rape; 
and

    (5) Cambodia launching its National Action Plan to Prevent and Respond 
to Violence Against Children in 2017, which led to social protection 
interventions reaching an additional 10,000 children and child protection 
services reaching an additional 20,000 children;

Whereas the follow-up household surveillance, VACS, thus far completed in Kenya 
        and Zimbabwe, revealed a significant decrease in sexual violence among 
        children and adolescents after data-driven reforms were instituted;
Whereas sexual violence, common in the United States and around the globe at 
        times of peace, occurs with increased incidence in settings of conflict, 
        migration, internal displacement, and institutionalization, where it is 
        known to be used to intimidate, subjugate, and instill fear;
Whereas survivors in these adverse settings commonly experience collective 
        abandonment and an entrenched impunity of their perpetrators; and
Whereas the strong association between experiencing violence in childhood and 
        later perpetrating violence highlights the importance of comprehensive 
        interventions for both survivors and perpetrators: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States--
            (1) recognizes that sexual violence against girls remains a 
        devastating global health, human rights, and economic problem 
        that is both unjustifiable and preventable and impedes peace 
        and security;
            (2) recognizes the leadership of nations that have used 
        data-driven, in-country, government-led, multisector reform to 
        end sexual violence against girls;
            (3) encourages the commitment of all nations to address the 
        United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including goal 
        16.2, ``End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of 
        violence against and torture of children'', goal 5, ``Achieve 
        gender equality and empower all women and girls'', and goal 
        5.3, ``Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early 
        and forced marriage and female genital mutilations'';
            (4) encourages all nations to put into place proven methods 
        and tools such as VACS, a proven household surveillance tool, 
        and INSPIRE, an evidence-based technical package of strategies, 
        to generate and implement government-led, data-driven, 
        comprehensive, multisector response plans to end sexual 
        violence against girls;
            (5) encourages the establishment of multidisciplinary and 
        integrated systems in every country to ensure that laws are put 
        into place to protect girls and that these laws are enforced by 
        a trained and supported criminal justice system;
            (6) encourages increased global and domestic efforts to 
        eliminate FGM/C;
            (7) encourages funding for further research on the global 
        magnitude, scope, consequences including physical and mental 
        health, social and economic burdens, and prevention of sexual 
        violence among all children including more vulnerable 
        populations such as children who are disabled, 
        institutionalized, or homeless, children living as refugees, or 
        internally displaced persons, and children living in areas of 
        conflict;
            (8) encourages the establishment of safe, survivor-centered 
        spaces, and advocacy centers for coordination of health, 
        psychologic, and other services for survivors and their 
        families;
            (9) encourages the adaptation and application of the VACS 
        technique in humanitarian contexts to acquire relevant data for 
        analysis to drive planning; and
            (10) encourages domestic use of the proven survey and 
        technical tools VACS and INSPIRE to address sexual violence 
        against girls in the United States.
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