[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7008 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7008

 To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to modify the 
 Trafficking in Persons report to include research on the relationship 
    between human trafficking and skewed sex ratios in national or 
  subnational populations in which there is evidence of sex-selective 
 practices, including, but not limited to, infanticide, gender-biased 
  neglect, or other forms of gender-based violence or discrimination.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2018

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 to modify the 
 Trafficking in Persons report to include research on the relationship 
    between human trafficking and skewed sex ratios in national or 
  subnational populations in which there is evidence of sex-selective 
 practices, including, but not limited to, infanticide, gender-biased 
  neglect, or other forms of gender-based violence or discrimination.

    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 ``Stop Gendercide Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Women and girls possess the same fundamental human 
        rights and civil rights as men and are essential to the 
        formation of stable, peaceful societies. Violence against women 
        and girls, reinforced by and rooted in the social and cultural 
        devaluation of women and girls, has skewed sex ratios in many 
        parts of the world.
            (2) Approximately 126,000,000 women and girls are missing 
        from the world population due to systematic gender-based 
        violence, according to the United Nations Population Fund, 
        which constitutes an egregious example of gendercide.
            (3) Since gendercide is a relatively recent phenomenon, the 
        implications of the crisis have yet to fully reverberate 
        through affected countries. But it is already clear that 
        increased instances of human trafficking, sexual violence, and 
        child marriage are linked to gendercide.
            (4) Statistics published biennially in the United Nations 
        Population Division's World Population Prospects indicate that 
        skewed sex ratios at birth will persist for decades, even after 
        they reach an apex in certain countries. This may be driving 
        significant changes in human trafficking patterns in affected 
        regions. Because the dynamics of gendercide and its 
        relationship to human trafficking are poorly understood, 
        governments, international institutions, and civil society 
        organizations are not prepared to adequately prevent and 
        respond to human trafficking crimes.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the lack of research on the relationship between 
        gendercide and human trafficking undermines national and 
        international response mechanisms critical to preventing 
        exploitation of women and girls; and
            (2) efforts to end human trafficking, including by 
        addressing root causes such as gender-based discrimination 
        against women and girls, should be prioritized.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States to--
            (1) work to end gendercide and prevent human trafficking, 
        child marriage, and sexual violence;
            (2) partner with and encourage other countries to implement 
        policies, or revise existing policies, to mitigate root causes 
        of gendercide; and
            (3) incorporate into the design, implementation, and 
        evaluation of United States anti-trafficking policies and 
        programs measures to respond to global gendercide.

SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS REPORT.

    Section 110(b)(1)(F) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 
2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)(F)) is amended by inserting before the 
semicolon the following: ``, including the relationship between human 
trafficking and skewed sex ratios in national or subnational 
populations in which there is evidence of sex-selective practices, 
including, but not limited to, infanticide, gender-biased neglect, or 
other forms of gender-based violence or discrimination, using sources 
that include statistics from the United States Census Bureau's 
International Data Base and the United Nations Population Division's 
World Population Prospects''.
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