(1)

That the Senate—

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 Haitian and international obligations 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.