[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 9 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S45-S46]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 352--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
   UNITED STATES SHOULD WORK WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF HAITI TO ADDRESS 
            GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 352

       Whereas, since 1993, research has shown tens of thousands 
     of women and girls have been victims of sexual or gender-
     based violence in Haiti, particularly in times of conflict or 
     natural disaster;
       Whereas approximately 50 percent of the victims are 
     adolescent girls under the age of 18, with many of the cases 
     involving the use of weapons, gang rape, and death threats 
     for reporting the crime;
       Whereas members of many medical professions are 
     insufficiently trained to attend to the special needs of 
     victims of gender-based violence, whether they be children or 
     adults;
       Whereas some medical providers report as many as 20 percent 
     of adolescent victims they have treated for sexual violence 
     become pregnant from their rape;
       Whereas some women's rights groups in Haiti have witnessed 
     dramatic increases in rates of sexual violence in many of the 
     displacement camps formed after the earthquake;
       Whereas the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti increased 
     the economic and social vulnerabilities of many women who are 
     now unable to protect their young children from sexual 
     predators, thereby increasing their risk for sexual violence;
       Whereas, according to data from public interest law firms 
     litigating cases of sexual violence, significant gender-based 
     barriers to justice continue to exist at all levels of the 
     justice system in Haiti;
       Whereas an effective, transparent, and impartial judicial 
     system is key to the administration of justice, and the 
     failure to ensure

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     proper investigations and prosecutions hampers the ability to 
     hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes and 
     discourages victims from formally seeking justice;
       Whereas inadequate financial, human, and technical 
     resources, as well as a lack of forensic and technical 
     expertise, have impeded the arrest and prosecution of 
     suspects;
       Whereas members of the police, prosecutors, and judges are 
     insufficiently trained to attend to either the special needs 
     of women and girl victims of gender-based violence, or the 
     special needs of boys and girls who are victims of other 
     abuses such as forced labor, beatings, or violence;
       Whereas the lack of protection measures discourages women 
     and girls in Haiti from pursuing prosecution of perpetrators 
     of sexual violence, for fear of reprisal or stigmatization;
       Whereas rape and other forms of gender-based violence in 
     Haiti threaten the physical and psychological health of both 
     the victims and their families;
       Whereas many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean 
     face significant challenges in combating violence against 
     women and girls, and violence against children, and 
     international cooperation is essential in addressing this 
     serious issue;
       Whereas the Government of Haiti has undertaken efforts to 
     prevent violence against women, as evidenced by its 
     ratification of the United Nations Convention on the 
     Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 
     adopted December 18, 1979; the Inter-American Convention on 
     the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence 
     Against Women, adopted at Belem Do Para, Brazil, June 9, 
     1994; and other international human rights treaties, and the 
     enactment of laws and the creation of state institutions to 
     promote and protect the rights of women;
       Whereas the Government of Haiti has been a signatory of the 
     United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 
     November 20, 1989, since December 29, 1994;
       Whereas the Haitian National Police and the United Nations 
     Mission for Stabilization of Haiti have created special 
     police units to address sexual and other forms of gender-
     based violence in Haiti;
       Whereas the special police unit to address gender-based 
     violence within the Haitian National Police remains 
     significantly under-resourced, rendering it practically 
     ineffective to carry out its mandate;
       Whereas, in March 2009, the Inter-American Commission on 
     Human Rights issued a report recognizing Haiti's history of 
     gender discrimination that fuels gender-based violence and 
     gives rise to a climate of impunity;
       Whereas, in December 2010, the Inter-American Commission 
     detailed steps the Government of Haiti must take to protect 
     women and girls from increased risk of gender-based violence 
     in post-earthquake Haiti;
       Whereas, in 2012, the Ministry for the Status of Women and 
     Women's Rights in Haiti plans to unveil a comprehensive draft 
     law that calls for the prevention, punishment, and 
     elimination of violence against women;
       Whereas the United Nations and donor countries, such as the 
     United States, continue to have a prominent economic and 
     leadership role in the stabilization and reconstruction of 
     Haiti;
       Whereas few mechanisms exist in Haiti to protect the rights 
     of young children not living at home, such as restaveks, who 
     are engaged in forced labor or are victims to other forms of 
     violence; and
       Whereas the lack of protection for women and girls and 
     continuing impunity for crimes against women is a threat to 
     the rule of law, democracy, and stability in Haiti: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) sympathizes with the families of women and children 
     victimized by sexual and other forms of gender-based violence 
     in Haiti;
       (2) urges the treatment of the issue of violence against 
     women and children as a priority for the United States 
     Government's humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in 
     Haiti;
       (3) asserts its support for the passage of Haiti's first 
     comprehensive law on the prevention, punishment, and 
     elimination of all forms of gender-based violence;
       (4) calls on the Government of Haiti to establish urgent 
     plans that address the needs of vulnerable and unprotected 
     children who are in situations of sexual exploitation, forced 
     labor, or face sexual and or domestic violence, and to take 
     steps to immediately implement those plans, in consultation 
     with grassroots organizations working specifically on the 
     protection and promotion of the rights of children;
       (5) calls on the Government of Haiti to take steps to 
     implement the recommendations of the Inter-American 
     Commission on Human Rights issued in response to increased 
     levels of sexual violence in camps for internally-displaced 
     persons on December 22, 2010, including--
       (A) ensuring participation and leadership of grassroots 
     women's groups in planning and implementing policies and 
     practices to combat and prevent sexual violence and other 
     forms of violence in the camps;
       (B) ensuring provision of comprehensive, affordable, 
     adequate, and appropriate medical and psychological care in 
     locations accessible to victims of sexual violence in camps 
     for those internally displaced, including, in particular 
     ensuring--
       (i) privacy during examinations;
       (ii) availability of female medical staff members, with a 
     cultural sensitivity and experience with victims of sexual 
     violence;
       (iii) timely issuance of free medical certificates;
       (iv) availability of HIV prophylaxis, and
       (v) sexual reproductive health and emergency contraception;
       (C) implementing effective security measures in 
     displacement camps, such as providing street lighting, 
     adequate patrolling in and around the camps, and a greater 
     number of female security forces in police patrols in the 
     camps and in police stations in proximity to the camps;
       (D) ensuring that public officials, such as police 
     officers, prosecutors, and judges, responsible for responding 
     to incidents of sexual violence receive specialized training 
     from experienced Haitian and international women's 
     organizations with a proven track record in gender-sensitive 
     protection enabling them to respond adequately to complaints 
     of sexual violence with appropriate sensitivity and in a 
     nondiscriminatory manner; and
       (E) maintaining effective special units within the police 
     and the prosecutor's office investigating cases of rape and 
     other forms of violence against women and girls;
       (6) asserts its commitment to support the Haitian Ministry 
     of Women's Affairs in its efforts to--
       (A) build ministry capacity and facilitate gender-based 
     violence sub-cluster meetings and initiatives as it 
     transitions over to the Government of Haiti;
       (B) perform decentralized meetings, consultations, and 
     outreach to women's movements and community groups;
       (C) address issues of gender-based violence country-wide, 
     including violence in internally displaced person camps, 
     rural peasant communities, and among children; and
       (D) strengthen gender assessments, gender budgets, and 
     gender planning in collaboration with other Haitian 
     ministries, the Haitian Parliament, the ruling administration 
     in Haiti, the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission 
     on Human Rights, donors, and international nongovernmental 
     organizations within the reconstruction process; and
       (7) asserts its support for the Government of Haiti, 
     especially the Ministry of Women's Affairs, in its efforts to 
     assess, amend, and renew its 5-year gender protection plan, 
     which expired in October 2011, which includes support for the 
     Government of Haiti in its efforts--
       (A) to thoroughly assess the impact of the previous 5-year 
     protection plan, including both pre and post-earthquake 
     analyses and perform diversified assessments in consultation 
     with local, regional, and national women's groups throughout 
     the country, that will help gather decentralized data in both 
     urban and rural zones;
       (B) to perform specialized surveys and interviews in a 
     significant sampling of internally displaced person camps and 
     impoverished neighborhoods with high rates of gender-based 
     violence with victims of rape and violence, the community 
     groups that support them, and local officials in order to 
     fully understand the needs and recommendations of these 
     different populations and integrate these findings into a 
     revised protection plan;
       (C) to revise the existing Haitian protection plan based on 
     the results of diversified and decentralized assessments and 
     in direct consultation with national, regional, and local 
     government officials and grassroots organizations, including 
     women's groups and international institutions that focus on 
     solutions to gender-based violence; and
       (D) to amend, reintroduce, and pass into law a revised 
     Haiti gender protection plan that reflects current post-
     earthquake realities, the needs and recommendations of 
     victims of gender-based violence and the community groups 
     that support them, integrates provisions for judicial and 
     medical services for gender-based violence victims, and 
     reflects key findings of decentralized assessments in both 
     urban and rural zones.

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