[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1018 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1018
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that protecting
and advancing the rights of women and girls in the Republic of Haiti is
critical to the success of Haiti's transition from crisis and its
future stability, condemning the failure to center women's leadership
and distinct needs to date, and calling for urgent measures to secure
all human rights of women and girls in Haiti.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2026
Ms. Clarke of New York (for herself, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Pressley, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Waters, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Mr. Frost, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Norton, Mr. Bell, Mr. Carson,
Ms. Crockett, Mrs. McIver, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mrs. Beatty, Ms.
McBride, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Mfume, Ms.
Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Simon, Mrs. Ramirez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms.
Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Lee of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Underwood, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Tlaib, Mr.
Mannion, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. Kelly of
Illinois, Mr. Soto, Ms. Brown, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr.
Carbajal, Mr. Bishop, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Figures, Mr. McGovern, and Ms.
Meng) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed
Services, 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
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that protecting
and advancing the rights of women and girls in the Republic of Haiti is
critical to the success of Haiti's transition from crisis and its
future stability, condemning the failure to center women's leadership
and distinct needs to date, and calling for urgent measures to secure
all human rights of women and girls in Haiti.
Whereas women and girls in Haiti are subjected to systematic discrimination
across all areas of public and private life and endemic gender-based
violence, and have been systematically excluded from political and other
leadership roles such that Haiti was nearly last in the world for
women's participation in Parliament after its last elections;
Whereas women and girls are distinctly affected by the current deteriorating
security, governance, and humanitarian crisis in Haiti, and are being
subjected to widespread sexual and other forms of gender-based violence,
including collective rape and sexual exploitation that is being
deliberately wielded as a tool of conflict to control and terrorize
communities;
Whereas the pervasive threat of gender-based violence has led to a significant
reduction in women's and girls' freedom of movement, civic
participation, and economic activity, further increasing their
vulnerability to exploitation and abuse, especially in situations of
displacement;
Whereas, despite the critical need for survivor support services like emergency
medical care, shelter, and judicial recourse, access to such services
remains severely limited, impeded, and in some areas, nonexistent, and
impunity for gender-based violence remains the norm;
Whereas the Constitution of Haiti expressly requires ``the equity of gender'',
provides that at least 30 percent of all positions and offices ``at all
levels of national life, notably in the public services'' and in
elections be reserved for women, and incorporates as national law all
rights recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, signed at New York, December
18, 1979, and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention,
Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women, done at Belem do
Para, June 9, 1994;
Whereas Haiti's transitional government has failed to include women and girls on
an equal basis in leadership and decision-making positions or to meet
the 30-percent constitutional minimum requirement, most egregiously
exemplified by the fact that no women hold any of the 7 voting seats on
the Transitional Presidential Council;
Whereas civil society organizations in Haiti have documented and denounced the
lack of adequate government protections, services, and responses to the
distinct security, economic, and human rights needs of Haitian women and
girls, as well as the transitional government's failure to sufficiently
include women in decision making, in violation of their rights;
Whereas the United States Government voted into effect a series of United
Nations Security Council resolutions that collectively established the
Women, Peace, and Security (in this preamble referred to as ``WPS'')
Agenda, which urges member states to increase women's representation in
institutions and mechanisms for preventing, mitigating, and resolving
conflict and to center the rights of women and girls, and further
explicitly recognizes that weaponized gender-based violence exacerbates
conflict and represents a threat to international peace and security;
Whereas centering women's leadership and specific needs is thus an established
best practice for conflict-affected transitions, reflecting the
empirical recognition that when women are included, outcomes are more
effective and sustainable;
Whereas the United States Government recognized the WPS Agenda as ``both a moral
and strategic imperative of U.S. foreign policy and national security''
and became the first country to adopt a comprehensive law on WPS when
Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the Women,
Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-68);
Whereas that Act requires policies that promote and encourage partner
governments to ensure the meaningful participation of women in conflict
resolution, along with their physical safety, economic security, and
dignity, recognizing explicitly that women's engagement in resolving
conflict is critical to long-term stability and democracy;
Whereas the 2019 United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security,
effectuated by President Donald Trump, requires measures to support
women's participation in decision making related to crises and to
promote the protection of women's and girls' human rights, access to
aid, and safety from violence, abuse, and exploitation around the world;
Whereas the international partners working with the transitional government of
Haiti to respond to its crisis have largely failed to center the
principles of the WPS Agenda, providing limited support to addressing
sexual violence and paying little notice to other rights and
obligations, including especially women's leadership;
Whereas civil society in Haiti has with global support launched a Policy
Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition, which outlines for
the transitional government and its international partners the
applicable legal obligations and best practices, such as the WPS Agenda,
and sets out concrete recommendations with the aim of supporting a more
equitable and thus more effective transition from crisis; and
Whereas the failure to center women's leadership and women- specific needs and
protections in Haiti's transition threatens the effectiveness of the
transition and the long- term security, democracy, and socioeconomic
development of Haiti: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the systematic sexual violence and other
gender-based harms directed at women and girls in Haiti and the
accompanying lack of protection, services, and accountability,
which constitute breaches of Haiti's legal obligations under
Haitian and international law;
(2) condemns the persistent exclusion and marginalization
of women in Haiti's transitional government and in other
leadership and decision-making positions, especially with
respect to restoring security, management of displacement
sites, and delivery of humanitarian relief, which constitute
breaches of Haiti's legal obligations under Haitian and
international law;
(3) condemns the failure of Haiti's international partners
to center the distinct needs of women and girls in policies,
programs, and efforts to provide good offices or otherwise
support Haiti's transitional government;
(4) condemns the unilateral steps undertaken by the
Department of State and the Department of Defense to dismantle
their institutional commitments to Women, Peace, and Security,
including by closing the Office of Global Women's Issues in the
proposed reorganization of the Department of State and ending
the Women, Peace, and Security program at the Department of
Defense, and finds those actions to be contrary to legislation
duly enacted by Congress, including the Women, Peace, and
Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-68);
(5) finds that the failure to respect the legal
requirements to include women's leadership and address women's
specific needs endangers all efforts to restore security and
stable democratic governance in Haiti;
(6) finds that confronting widespread gender-based violence
against women and girls in Haiti is indispensable for
stabilizing and rebuilding Haiti and must be a central tenet of
all security and accountability policies;
(7) finds that failure to specifically consider and
endeavor to dismantle historical and structural inequalities
and discrimination risks entrenching or worsening such
practices and their harmful consequences;
(8) concludes that policies, programs, and corresponding
budgetary allocations must be urgently implemented so as to--
(A) ensure that, in conformity with the
Constitution of Haiti, women fill at minimum 30 percent
of all government, leadership, and decision-making
positions, including especially top ministerial,
directorate, and commission positions that are
concerned with restoring security, delivering
humanitarian assistance, and planning for any
elections;
(B) ensure that women serving in any such positions
are fully and equally empowered and funded so as to be
able to exercise meaningful and effective authority
associated with their positions;
(C) prioritize and fund policies and programs
concerned with protecting women and girls in Haiti from
sexual and other forms of gender-based violence;
(D) prioritize and fund services for survivors of
sexual and other forms of gender-based violence,
especially medical and psychological assistance,
shelter, and protection;
(E) prioritize and fund investigations and
prosecutions of sexual violence and other forms of
gender-based harms, including the preservation of
evidence and protection for survivors and witnesses;
(F) take all necessary steps to ensure the safety
of women and girls in displacement sites, including
measures consistent with Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights Precautionary Measures MC 340/1, namely--
(i) to provide medical and psychological
care to survivors of gender-based violence;
(ii) to adequately secure displacement
sites;
(iii) to ensure public officials respond
adequately to incidents of gender-based
violence;
(iv) to create specialized units to
investigate and prosecute such cases; and
(v) to ensure that grassroots women's
groups are adequately represented in
displacement site management;
(G) require across all relevant government and
foreign assistance programs and policies explicit
consideration of the distinct needs of women and girls
in Haiti, especially in the context of security,
elections and governance, and humanitarian relief;
(H) require across all relevant government and
foreign assistance programs and policies that
collection of data is gender-disaggregated and trauma-
informed, including especially with respect to crimes,
humanitarian need, and civic engagement; and
(I) adopt a feminist policy that places the
promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of
women and girls at its center, and in particular, to
base policies, programs, and planning on the Policy
Framework for an Effective and Equitable Transition
promulgated by civil society in Haiti;
(9) calls on all actors engaged with the situation in Haiti
to comply with their international human rights commitments and
to meet their obligations to the women and girls of Haiti under
the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda, most notably to promote
the meaningful participation of women in leadership and
decision making and to center the distinct needs of women and
girls, especially protection from and accountability for sexual
and other forms of gender-based violence;
(10) expresses appreciation for the role that civil society
in Haiti, especially Haitian feminist and women's rights
organizations, have been playing in delivering critical
services and advocating for more effective and equitable
policies;
(11) calls upon all actors engaged with the situation in
Haiti to closely consult with civil society in Haiti and in
particular with Haitian feminist and women's rights
organizations, especially those working at the grassroots
level, when formulating policies, programs, and budgets,
especially with respect to matters concerning security,
elections and governance, and humanitarian relief, and to
provide those organizations with adequate funding;
(12) calls upon all actors engaged with the situation in
Haiti to tangibly invest in the long-term equality of Haiti's
women and girls by implementing forward-looking plans,
policies, and programs concerned with legislative,
institutional, and policy changes to that end; and
(13) resolves to rebuild the Office of Global Women's
Issues at the Department of State and the Women, Peace, and
Security program in the Department of Defense to advance United
States Government commitments to women human rights defenders
building peace and security in Haiti and beyond.
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