[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 589 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 589

  Recognizing, honoring, and commending the women of Ukraine who have 
    contributed to the fight for freedom and the defense of Ukraine.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 7, 2022

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Ernst, Ms. Hirono, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms. 
   Hassan, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Collins, Ms. Warren, Ms. 
Murkowski, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Smith, Mrs. 
Feinstein, Ms. Sinema, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Rosen, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mrs. 
 Murray, Ms. Lummis, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Fischer, and Mrs. Hyde-Smith) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Recognizing, honoring, and commending the women of Ukraine who have 
    contributed to the fight for freedom and the defense of Ukraine.

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin 
        instigated an unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful war violating the 
        territorial integrity of the sovereign country of Ukraine;
Whereas, in response to this invasion, the people of Ukraine marshaled their 
        will to defend their country and shared belief in a sovereign Ukraine in 
        order to resist the imperialist ambitions of Vladimir Putin;
Whereas every Ukrainian man, woman, and child has done their part to defend 
        democracy and freedom in Ukraine;
Whereas women have played a key role in defending Ukraine, keeping their 
        families and innocent children safe and responding to the invasion by 
        the Russian Federation;
Whereas, in the first 6 weeks of fighting in Ukraine, more than 4,300,000 
        Ukrainians, of which the majority are women and children, fled the 
        country in response to Putin's war;
Whereas women play a critical role in facilitating the transit of children to 
        safety, including by escorting the children of parents and guardians who 
        cannot leave Ukraine so that such children are able to find safety in 
        neighboring countries;
Whereas the women who remain in Ukraine contribute to all aspects of 
        warfighting, including by fighting on the front lines and as part of the 
        territorial defense, delivering supplies and weapons, and preparing 
        cities for assaults by the Russian Federation;
Whereas 17 percent of the armed forces of Ukraine are women;
Whereas the women of Ukraine have a long history of defending Ukraine and 
        standing up for their rights and freedoms;
Whereas, following the 2014 invasion of the sovereign and independent state of 
        Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the women of Ukraine joined the fight 
        to preserve their independence;
Whereas, despite significant contributions to the war effort, outdated 
        legislation in Ukraine classifies women as cooks, tailors, and 
        administrative assistants, even while women were fighting and dying on 
        the front lines beside their male counterparts;
Whereas women are an integral part of the armed forces of Ukraine and continue 
        to defend their homes and their country;
Whereas, on March 9, the armed forces of the Russian Federation deliberately 
        attacked civilian targets in Mariupol, Ukraine, which destroyed a 
        hospital that served as both a maternity ward and a children's hospital, 
        killing two women and a baby;
Whereas, following the devastating attack on the well-known and established 
        hospital, the world watched in horror as pregnant women, mothers 
        carrying newborn babies, and young children fled the rubble of what 
        should have been a safe place;
Whereas the women at the hospital should have been celebrating new life and 
        looking toward raising their children in peace and safety, instead, 
        those women are seeking shelter in subways, giving birth in bunkers, and 
        worrying for the safety of their children and the future of Ukraine;
Whereas the attack on the maternity ward and children's hospital in Mariupol was 
        the third such attack on a maternity ward in Ukraine by the Russian 
        Federation since the beginning of the invasion on February 24;
Whereas, according to the United Nations, more than 4,300 women have given birth 
        since the start of the war, and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to 
        give birth in between April and June of 2022;
Whereas all women, in every situation, have the right to a safe birth and access 
        to crucial supplies necessary for the management of pregnancy 
        complications, including oxygen and medical supplies, which are running 
        dangerously low in Ukraine because of the ongoing violence and refusal 
        on the part of the Russian Federation to allow for safe passage for 
        humanitarian purposes;
Whereas the unprovoked attack on a civilian building constitutes a war crime 
        under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian 
        Persons in Time of War, done at Geneva August 12, 1949, (commonly 
        referred to as the ``Fourth Geneva Convention'') and should be 
        investigated as such a crime;
Whereas the Russian Federation has deliberately attacked civilian infrastructure 
        in Ukraine, including schools, hospitals, businesses, apartment 
        buildings, and utility services;
Whereas the initial days of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation 
        have resulted in a disproportionate number of women and children seeking 
        safety outside of Ukraine;
Whereas Ukrainian women and girls, like women and girls in all humanitarian 
        emergencies, including women and girls forced to leave their homes in 
        conflict settings, face increased and exacerbated vulnerabilities to--

    (1) gender-based violence, including rape, child marriage, domestic 
violence, and sexual exploitation and assault;

    (2) all forms of human trafficking;

    (3) disruptions in education and livelihood;

    (4) lack of access to health care; and

    (5) food insecurity and malnutrition;

Whereas the world has a responsibility to respond with care to the humanitarian 
        crisis in Ukraine and in neighboring countries to address the specific 
        needs of women and girls;
Whereas the United Nations Security Council adopted United Nations Security 
        Council Resolution 1325 on October 31, 2000, acknowledging the impact of 
        conflict and security decisions on women and calling on all member 
        states to include ``women at all decision-making levels in national, 
        regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the 
        prevention, management, and resolution of conflict'';
Whereas, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the 
        Empowerment of Women (commonly referred to as ``UN Women''), peace 
        negotiations are more likely to end in a peace agreement when women and 
        women's groups play a meaningful role in the negotiation process, and 
        according to the International Peace Institute, a peace agreement is 35 
        percent more likely to last at least 15 years if women participate in 
        the development of the peace agreement;
Whereas, in 2016, Ukraine adopted its first National Action Plan for the 
        implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and, 
        on October 28, 2020, Ukraine approved a new National Action Plan for 
        2021 through 2025 in order to address the impact on women of the 
        aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and to ensure 
        gender equality in the security and defense sectors of Ukraine;
Whereas representation of women in politics in Ukraine has increased steadily 
        since the first parliament of an independent Ukraine met in 1990;
Whereas more than 20 percent of seats in the ninth and current Verkhovna Rada 
        are held by women, the most in Ukrainian history;
Whereas women across Ukraine have made political gains in recent years, 
        including in local elections on October 25, 2020, where 38 percent of 
        deputies elected were women; and
Whereas women in Ukraine should be involved at all levels and in all aspects of 
        leadership, negotiation, conflict resolution, and peacekeeping in order 
        to ensure the most enduring peace for Ukraine and the region: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes, honors, and commends the women of Ukraine 
        who have contributed to the fight for freedom and the defense 
        of Ukraine, including women who--
                    (A) are members of the Armed Forces Territorial 
                Defense Forces of Ukraine;
                    (B) are volunteers, organizing and operating 
                humanitarian organizations;
                    (C) are doctors, nurses, paramedics, and support 
                personnel, providing life-saving services across 
                Ukraine;
                    (D) have mobilized to assist the safe transfer of 
                the children and other vulnerable individuals from 
                Ukraine; and
                    (E) are public leaders, politicians, and diplomats;
            (2) stands with the people of Ukraine in support of their 
        fight for freedom against the Russian Federation;
            (3) acknowledges the women who have risked their lives to 
        travel through territory controlled by the Russian Federation, 
        break siege tactics surrounding cities, and to ensure the 
        safety of children and the elderly;
            (4) commends--
                    (A) the bordering countries of Ukraine, including 
                Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Moldova, who 
                are accommodating more than 4,300,000 refugees; and
                    (B) the broader European Union for committing to 
                provide support during the growing humanitarian crisis;
            (5) calls on all countries to ensure that aid provided in 
        support of refugees of and internally displaced persons within 
        Ukraine takes into account the needs of women and the gender-
        specific risks that women face in seeking safety;
            (6) acknowledges the important role women must play in 
        resolving the conflict between Ukraine and the Russian 
        Federation as outlined in United Nations Security Council 
        Resolution 1325 (2016) and required by the laws of the United 
        States and regulations of Ukraine;
            (7) further calls on all countries to promote the 
        meaningful inclusion of women in negotiations and decision-
        making at all levels, including security decisions; and
            (8) commits to supporting the women of Ukraine wherever 
        they are as they fight back against tyranny and work for the 
        free and democratic future of Ukraine.
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