[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 842 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 842

Condemning the sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls 
    in Ethiopia and emphasizing the urgent demand for humanitarian 
                     responses to meet their needs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2021

  Ms. Speier (for herself, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Bass, Ms. 
 Jacobs of California, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Titus, 
 Mr. Quigley, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Cohen, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of 
New York, Mr. Carson, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Evans, 
  Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Johnson of 
 Georgia, Mr. Welch, Mr. Allred, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Meng, 
 Mr. Bowman, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. 
Torres of New York, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Jayapal, 
  Ms. Pingree, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr. Sherman, Ms. 
Eshoo, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Correa, Ms. Houlahan, Ms. Williams of Georgia, 
 Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Roybal-Allard, and Ms. Escobar) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls 
    in Ethiopia and emphasizing the urgent demand for humanitarian 
                     responses to meet their needs.

Whereas the ongoing conflict in northern Ethiopia that began in the Tigray 
        region is impacting safety, health, and human rights, particularly that 
        of women and girls, and exacerbating underlying gender inequality;
Whereas, in January 2021, the United Nations Special Representative of the 
        Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict called on all parties 
        involved in hostilities in Tigray to commit to a zero-tolerance policy 
        for crimes of sexual violence, in line with their obligations under 
        international humanitarian and human rights law;
Whereas parties to the conflict include the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, 
        the Eritrean Defense Forces, regional forces from Amhara and other 
        regional states of Ethiopia, and forces aligned with the Tigray People's 
        Liberation Front;
Whereas, in January 2021, the United Nations Special Representative of the 
        Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict called on the Ethiopian 
        Government to exercise due diligence obligations to protect all 
        civilians from sexual and other violence, allow for an independent 
        inquiry into all allegations of sexual and other forms of violence, hold 
        perpetrators accountable, provide redress to victims, and prevent future 
        violations;
Whereas the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and 
        Emergency Relief Coordinator briefed the United Nations Security Council 
        in April 2021 that sexual violence was being used as a weapon of war in 
        the Tigray region;
Whereas, in April 2021, the United Nations Special Representative of the 
        Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict confirmed accounts of 
        sexual violence perpetrated by armed combatants, including--

    (1) the systematic use of rape and sexual assault;

    (2) holding women and girls captive for days and repeatedly assaulting 
them;

    (3) targeting young girls and pregnant women; and

    (4) forcing family members to watch relatives being brutally violated;

Whereas the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the United 
        Nations High Commission for Human Rights conducted an investigation and 
        released their report on November 3, 2021, which documented likely 
        violations of human rights and humanitarian law obligations committed by 
        all parties to the conflict that may also amount to war crimes involving 
        sexual and gender-based violence of women, girls, men, and boys, 
        including but not limited to--

    (1) gang, oral, and anal rape;

    (2) insertion of foreign objects into the vagina;

    (3) transmission of HIV; and

    (4) forced nudity;

Whereas women and girls continue to be impacted disproportionately by the 
        months-long government shutdown of essential services, including 
        electricity, banking, and telecommunications, and the obstruction of 
        humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel, medicines, and other 
        humanitarian supplies, which negatively impacts their well-being and 
        heightens their risk of sexual exploitation and abuse, including by aid 
        workers, in exchange for necessary supplies;
Whereas growing food insecurity, a lack of fully functioning health facilities, 
        the result of deliberate attacks by warring parties on health care, the 
        spread of COVID-19, and the shortage of basic needs in Tigray is 
        reportedly contributing to alarming rates of malnutrition and risks of 
        negative coping mechanisms, including sex for survival;
Whereas, due to the deliberate disruptions of humanitarian supplies, including 
        to construct shelter or for water, sanitation, and hygiene, many 
        displaced civilians are sheltering in unfinished or damaged buildings, 
        most of which do not include separate spaces or latrines for women and 
        girls, thus increasing risks of gender-based violence and the spread of 
        certain infectious diseases;
Whereas over 2,100,000 people have been internally displaced in Tigray, and an 
        estimated 5,200,000 people there are in need of humanitarian assistance 
        as of August 2021, while another 300,000 have reportedly been displaced 
        in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, where an estimated 1,700,000 
        are facing food insecurity as a result of the spreading hostilities;
Whereas women and girls who are internally displaced continue to be at increased 
        risk of sexual violence;
Whereas widespread reports and hundreds of firsthand accounts indicate that 
        women and girls have been subjected to sexual violence, including gang 
        raping, genital burning, the forcing of foreign objects into their 
        genitals, and sexual slavery;
Whereas systematic mass sexual violence against women and girls by combatants in 
        Tigray is estimated to have been used against as many as 10,000 
        survivors or more since the conflict began, and nearly a quarter of 
        reports received by 1 agency alone involved gang rape with victims as 
        young as 8 years old;
Whereas the United Nations Population Fund projects that as many as 22,500 
        survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Tigray may seek 
        clinical care in 2021, and reported that there is no systematic response 
        or survivor-centered care for most survivors, which further traumatizes 
        survivors and impedes their ability to access services;
Whereas Tigray's Regional Health Bureau recorded approximately 1,324 cases of 
        gender-based violence between November 2020 and May 2021, and incidents 
        of gender-based violence are likely to be undercounted due to lack of 
        access to the conflict zones, stigmatization of sexual assault, 
        survivors' fear of retaliation, and limited access to services and 
        trusted medical service providers;
Whereas over 3,800,000 people have limited access to services in Tigray, with 
        only 38 percent of health facilities operational, with aid agencies 
        impeded from rehabilitating and reequipping health facilities, and 29 
        percent of health facilities at partial capacity to provide post-rape 
        treatment;
Whereas, despite the urgent need to provide survivors of sexual violence with 
        support services and clinical management of rape, including emergency 
        medical treatment, postexposure prophylaxis to prevent sexually 
        transmitted infections, emergency contraceptives, and psychosocial 
        support, the Ethiopian Government has blocked the delivery of medicines 
        and medical supplies, many health workers have not received salaries for 
        months, proper gender-based violence case management services, including 
        mental health and psychosocial support, remain insufficient in most 
        locations in Tigray, and emergency contraception was only available in 
        less than half of the facilities assessed by the United Nations;
Whereas health care workers documenting cases of sexual violence face reprisal 
        attacks, and the majority of health facilities in the Tigray region have 
        been damaged and looted, impeding crisis-affected populations' access to 
        health services;
Whereas international humanitarian actors continue to face access and security 
        issues that prevent aid from reaching the victims of violence, and 
        ongoing conflict has resulted in the deaths of at least 23 humanitarian 
        aid workers in Tigray since November 2020;
Whereas journalists reporting on evidence of sexual violence operating in Tigray 
        face threats, intimidation, harassments, and arrests;
Whereas the Department of State's 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 
        noted significant human rights abuses in Ethiopia, including ``lack of 
        investigation of and accountability for violence against women; crimes 
        involving violence or threats of violence targeting members of racial or 
        ethnic minority groups; and existence or use of laws criminalizing same-
        sex sexual conduct'';
Whereas, in May 2021, the Department of State issued visa restrictions for 
        Ethiopian and Eritrean Government officials and security forces, 
        including those who have conducted wrongful violence and abuses against 
        people in the Tigray region;
Whereas, in August 2021, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the 
        Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defense Forces under the Global Magnitsky 
        Human Rights Accountability Act for being a leader of an entity engaged 
        in serious human rights abuses, including sexual violence, committed 
        during the ongoing conflict in Tigray, and cited the use of sexual 
        violence ``by men in uniform'' as a weapon of war and ``a means to 
        terrorize and traumatize the entire population'';
Whereas the United States issued a sanctions regime in September 2021, targeting 
        those responsible for, or complicit in, prolonging the conflict in 
        Ethiopia;
Whereas the United States has already committed nearly $637,000,000 since 
        November 2020 to scale up the humanitarian response in Ethiopia, 
        including programs to address food insecurity and malnutrition, as well 
        as dedicated support for survivors of gender-based violence such as case 
        management, safe spaces, and psychosocial support; and
Whereas global funding gaps for the Tigray humanitarian response persist, 
        particularly for services to address the unique and increasing needs of 
        women and girls, with only $500,000 of the United Nations emergency 
        funding appeal for Tigray in December 2020 identified for gender-based 
        violence programming and only $1,500,000 to meet a large and growing 
        need for sexual and reproductive health care; Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the atrocities and possible crimes against 
        humanity being perpetrated against women and girls in Ethiopia;
            (2) condemns the deliberate and widespread attacks on 
        health care, including deliberate destruction and occupation of 
        facilities, by warring parties;
            (3) condemns the blockade of humanitarian assistance, 
        including for food, fuel, and medicines, and the shutdown of 
        essential services including banking, telecommunications, and 
        electricity that is harming the civilian population, 
        particularly women and girls;
            (4) notes the joint investigation conducted by the 
        Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and the Office of the United 
        Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights into the human 
        rights violations and abuses allegedly committed by all parties 
        in the context of the Tigray conflict, and urges these parties 
        to ensure that the investigation paves the way for a robust, 
        independent, transparent, and impartial mechanism that can 
        ensure evidence of related crimes are preserved for future 
        accountability;
            (5) reaffirms the importance of United States diplomatic 
        pressure on all parties to the conflict to permanently cease 
        hostilities and respect the current cease-fire agreement, 
        fulfill their obligations under international human rights and 
        humanitarian law, and allow unhindered access for humanitarian 
        responders to meet the needs of people impacted by the 
        conflict;
            (6) emphasizes the critical importance of ensuring women 
        meaningfully participate in the design and implementation of 
        humanitarian action and the negotiation of peace agreements to 
        meet their unique needs in this crisis context, to protect 
        their human rights, and to provide an environment for 
        reconciliation;
            (7) urges the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to--
                    (A) condemn sexual and gender-based violence 
                perpetrated against women and girls in this conflict;
                    (B) hold all perpetrators who commit acts of sexual 
                and gender-based violence accountable;
                    (C) provide redress to survivors of sexual and 
                gender-based violence; and
                    (D) ensure documentation and prompt investigation 
                of reports of sexual and gender-based violence 
                committed during the conflict that is survivor-
                centered;
            (8) emphasizes the urgent need of all parties to the 
        conflict to--
                    (A) commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated 
                cease-fire;
                    (B) issue clear and public instructions to armed 
                forces and groups that forms of sexual and gender-based 
                violence are prohibited and punishable on the basis of 
                direct and command responsibility, including superiors 
                who ordered or failed to prevent or stop violations; 
                and
                    (C) engage in an inclusive political dialogue to 
                work toward a lasting resolution to Ethiopia's ethnic 
                and political divisions; and
            (9) urges the President of the United States to ensure 
        accountability for human rights abuses and atrocities committed 
        against civilians, including women and girls in the Tigray 
        region and neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, and other 
        parts of Ethiopia, including by--
                    (A) supporting the full investigation of atrocities 
                against women and girls in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, and 
                other parts of northern Ethiopia; and
                    (B) directing the Department of State and the 
                United States Agency for International Development to--
                            (i) leverage existing programs and allocate 
                        new resources to provide comprehensive support 
                        to survivors of sexual and gender-based 
                        violence, including sexual and reproductive 
                        health services, psychosocial care, and legal 
                        services, including those under the United 
                        States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security 
                        per the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017;
                            (ii) support local civil society 
                        organizations, particularly women's 
                        organizations, that provide relief to survivors 
                        of sexual violence and ensure staff security is 
                        prioritized for frontline responders; and
                            (iii) support the United Nations and other 
                        humanitarian aid responders to establish a 
                        coordination mechanism to ensure comprehensive 
                        prevention, mitigation, and response to sexual 
                        and gender-based violence.
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