H.Res. 1018

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1018 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.
<all>