[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 135 (Wednesday, August 15, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 606--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
UNITED STATES CONDEMNS ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN GLOBALLY 
    AND RECOGNIZES THE HARMFUL IMPACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

  Mr. BOOZMAN (for himself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S5621, August 15, 2018, in the first column, the 
following appears: Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mr. Cardin) 
submitted the following resolution . . .
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: Mr. BOOZMAN (for 
himself and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following resolution . . .


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                              S. Res. 606

       Whereas violence against children can take many forms, 
     including sexual violence, physical violence, emotional 
     violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation;
       Whereas, each year, more than 1,000,000,000 children 
     worldwide are exposed to violence;
       Whereas, each year, the global economic impact of physical, 
     psychological, and sexual violence against children can be as 
     high as $7,000,000,000,000, which is 8 percent of global 
     gross domestic product (referred to in this preamble as 
     ``global GDP'');
       Whereas the economic costs of--
       (1) child labor amount to between 2.4 and 6.6 percent of 
     global gross national income annually; and
       (2) child abuse amount to 4 percent of global GDP annually;
       Whereas, around the world, nearly 1 in 3 adolescent girls 
     between 15 and 19 years of age, or 84,000,000 girls, have 
     been victims of emotional, physical, or sexual violence, 
     which is often perpetrated by individuals the girls know;
       Whereas 1 in 3 girls in the developing world is said to be 
     married before reaching 18 years of age and, of those girls, 
     an estimated 1 in 9 is said to be married before reaching 15 
     years of age;
       Whereas, according to the United Nations Children's Fund 
     (commonly known as ``UNICEF''), if there is no reduction in 
     the practice of child marriage, the global number of women 
     married in childhood will reach 1,200,000,000 by 2050, which 
     will have devastating global consequences;
       Whereas 246,000,000 boys and girls experience gender-based 
     violence in schools each year;
       Whereas children with disabilities are 3 to 4 times more 
     likely to experience physical or sexual violence;
       Whereas 168,000,000 children are involved in child labor 
     and 5,500,000 children are subject to forced labor, including 
     in situations of trafficking;
       Whereas nearly \1/2\ of the 65,000,000 individuals who, as 
     of the date on which this resolution is adopted, are 
     displaced by conflict and war around the world are children 
     and displacement exposes those children to increased risk of 
     exploitation, violence, and abuse;
       Whereas, according to the United Nations, from 2016 to 
     2017, verified cases of child recruitment and participation 
     in armed conflict--
       (1) quadrupled in the Central African Republic;
       (2) doubled in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and
       (3) persisted at alarming levels in Somalia, South Sudan, 
     the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen;
       Whereas unaddressed exposure to violence disrupts the 
     development of critical brain architecture and other organ 
     structures, leaving children at lifelong risk of disease and 
     reduced potential;
       Whereas studies show toxic stress relating to exposure to 
     violent or dangerous environments becomes damaging to 
     learning, behavior, and health across a lifespan;
       Whereas violence against children can lead to negative 
     health consequences, including injury, noncommunicable and 
     communicable diseases, and poor maternal and child health 
     outcomes;
       Whereas, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-
     operation and Development, the United States invests 0.5 
     percent of official development assistance in programs that 
     are designed to prevent and address violence against children 
     and youth;
       Whereas the United States, in coordination with public-
     private partnerships and other organizations, has endorsed 
     the technical package called ``INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for 
     Ending Violence against Children'' (referred to in this 
     preamble as ``INSPIRE'') put forth by the World Health 
     Organization;
       Whereas INSPIRE contains 7 evidence-based strategies to end 
     violence against children that include--
       (1) implementing and enforcing relevant laws;
       (2) addressing harmful gender and other social norms;
       (3) creating and sustaining safe communities;
       (4) supporting parents and caregivers;
       (5) strengthening economic programs relating to reducing 
     violence against children;
       (6) improving access to health services, social welfare, 
     and criminal justice support; and
       (7) ensuring safe school environments that provide gender-
     equitable education and social-emotional learning and life 
     skills trainings; and
       Whereas the United States Agency for International 
     Development, the Department of State, the Department of 
     Labor, the Department of Homeland Security, and the 
     Department of Health and Human Services play a critical role 
     in preventing and responding to violence against children and 
     youth: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United States--
       (1) condemns all forms of violence against children and 
     youth globally, including physical, mental, and sexual 
     violence, neglect, abuse, maltreatment, and exploitation;
       (2) recognizes--
       (A) the harmful impact that violence against children and 
     youth has on the healthy development of children; and
       (B) the harmful economic impact of violence against 
     children and youth; and
       (3) should--
       (A) develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated 
     strategy built on evidence-based practices, including the 
     technical package called ``INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for 
     Ending Violence against Children'' put forth by the World 
     Health Organization; and
       (B) adopt common metrics and indicators to monitor progress 
     across Federal agencies to prevent, address, and end violence 
     against children and youth globally.

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