Central American Women and Children Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2836 To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal years 2020 through 2022 to provide assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras through bilateral compacts to increase protection of women and children in their homes and communities and reduce female homicides, domestic violence, and sexual assault. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2019 Mrs. TORRES of California (for herself and Mrs. WAGNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To authorize appropriations for the Department of State for fiscal years 2020 through 2022 to provide assistance to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras through bilat- eral compacts to increase protection of women and chil- dren in their homes and communities and reduce female homicides, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Central American 4 Women and Children Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2836 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The Northern Triangle countries of El Sal- 3 vador, Honduras, and Guatemala have among the 4 highest homicide rates in the world. In 2017, there 5 were 60 homicides per 100,000 people in El Sal- 6 vador, 43.6 homicides per 100,000 people in Hon- 7 duras, and 26.1 homicides per 100,000 people in 8 Guatemala. 9 (2) Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are 10 characterized by a high prevalence of drug- and 11 gang-related violence, murder, and crimes involving 12 sexual- and gender-based violence. The region also 13 has high rates of domestic violence, child abuse, and 14 sexual assault. 15 (3) Central America ranks high among regions 16 of the world for female homicides. A combined 801 17 women were victims of homicide in El Salvador, 18 Honduras, and Guatemala in 2017 alone, according 19 to the United Nations Office of Drug Control and 20 Crime. 21 (4) El Salvador and Honduras are both among 22 the top 3 countries in the world with the highest 23 child homicides rates, with more than 22 and 32 24 deaths per 100,000 children respectively, according 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2836 IH to the nongovernmental organization Save the Chil- 1 dren. 2 (5) Thousands of women, children, and families 3 are fleeing unsafe homes and communities each 4 month in these countries due to surging violence. 5 (6) Violent crimes against women and children 6 are substantially under-reported because the major- 7 ity of victims lack safe access to protection and jus- 8 tice. 9 (7) Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador gov- 10 ernments allow impunity for perpetrators of violence 11 against women and children, with less than 10 per- 12 cent of reported cases resulting in conviction. 13 (8) According to a study conducted by the 14 Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 15 childhood experiences with domestic violence in 16 Latin America are a major risk factor for future 17 criminal behavior. Fifty-six percent of incarcerated 18 women and 59 percent of incarcerated men surveyed 19 experienced intra-familial violence during childhood. 20 SEC. 3. WOMEN AND CHILDREN PROTECTION COMPACTS. 21 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO COMPACTS.— 22 The Secretary of State is authorized to enter into bilateral 23 agreements with the Governments of El Salvador, Guate- 24 mala, and Honduras (in this Act referred to as ‘‘Compact 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2836 IH Countries’’) to be known as Women and Children Protec- 1 tion Compacts (in this Act referred to as ‘‘Compacts’’), 2 for the purposes of— 3 (1) strengthening the Compact Countries’ 4 criminal justice systems and civil protection courts 5 to protect women and children and serve victims of 6 domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse 7 and neglect and hold perpetrators accountable; 8 (2) securing, creating, and sustaining safe com- 9 munities, building on current place-based approaches 10 to prevent and deter violence against women and 11 children; 12 (3) ensuring schools are safe and promoting the 13 prevention and early detection of gender-based and 14 domestic abuse within communities in the Compact 15 Countries; and 16 (4) providing security within the region to fami- 17 lies and unaccompanied children fleeing domestic, 18 gang, or drug violence. 19 (b) COMPONENTS OF COMPACT.—A Compact shall 20 establish a 3 to 6 year plan for achieving shared objectives 21 articulated in Compacts, in furtherance of the purposes 22 of this Act, and shall include— 23 (1) identification of areas of highest incidence 24 of violence against women and children; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2836 IH (2) evaluation of women and child victims’ ac- 1 cess to protection and justice; 2 (3) evaluation of justice system capacity to re- 3 spond to reports of femicide, sexual assault, domes- 4 tic violence, and child abuse and neglect and to hold 5 perpetrators accountable; 6 (4) identification of measurable goals to protect 7 women and children to deter crimes against them 8 that the Compact commits to achieve during the 9 term of the Compact; 10 (5) indicators to monitor and measure progress 11 toward achieving these objectives, including reduc- 12 tions in prevalence of femicide, sexual assault, do- 13 mestic violence, and child abuse and neglect; and 14 (6) provisions to ensure funds provided under 15 the Compact may be fully accounted for with an 16 adequate audit trail. 17 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. 18 (a) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of State and the 19 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter- 20 national Development are authorized to provide assistance 21 to assist the Government of El Salvador, the Government 22 of Guatemala, or the Government of Honduras if the 23 country enters into a Compact. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2836 IH (b) PROHIBITION OF DIRECT ASSISTANCE.—No 1 funds provided pursuant to this Act shall be provided di- 2 rectly to the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and 3 Honduras. 4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 5 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,00 for each of fis- 6 cal years 2020, 2021, and 2022 to carry out this Act. 7 (d) SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may suspend 9 or terminate assistance authorized by this Act to 10 any of the three countries if the Secretary deter- 11 mines that— 12 (A) the country’s government is engaged in 13 activities that are contrary to the national secu- 14 rity interests of the United States; 15 (B) the country or recipient entity has en- 16 gaged in a pattern of actions inconsistent with 17 the criteria used to determine the eligibility of 18 the country or entity, as the case may be; or 19 (C) the country or recipient entity has 20 failed to make sufficient progress to meet the 21 goals of the Compact. 22 (2) REINSTATEMENT.—The Secretary may re- 23 instate assistance for a country or entity suspended 24 or terminated under this paragraph only if the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2836 IH retary certifies to Congress that the country or enti- 1 ty has taken steps to correct each condition for 2 which assistance was suspended or terminated under 3 paragraph (1). 4 SEC. 5. COMPACT PROGRESS REPORTS AND BRIEFING. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall sub- 6 mit to Congress not later than September 30 of each fiscal 7 year covered by the authorization a joint report that con- 8 tains a detailed description of the implementation of the 9 Compacts during the prior year. 10 (b) CONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a) for 11 fiscal year 2022 shall include— 12 (1) information on the overall rates of gender- 13 based violence in the Northern Triangle countries, 14 including by using victimization surveys, regardless 15 of whether or not these acts of violence are reported 16 to government authorities; 17 (2) information on incidences of gender-based 18 violence cases reported to the authorities in the 19 Northern Triangle countries and the percentage of 20 perpetrators investigated, apprehended, prosecuted, 21 and convicted; 22 (3) information on the capacity and resource al- 23 location of child welfare systems in each Northern 24 Triangle country to protect unaccompanied children, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2836 IH including runaways and refugee returnees in North- 1 ern Triangle countries; 2 (4) the percentage of reported violence against 3 women and children cases reaching conviction; 4 (5) a baseline and percentage changes in 5 women and children victims receiving legal and so- 6 cial services; 7 (6) a baseline and percentage changes in school 8 retention rates; 9 (7) a baseline and changes in capacity of police, 10 prosecution service, and courts to combat violence 11 against women and children; and 12 (8) independent external evaluation of funded 13 programs, including compliance with terms of the 14 Compacts by all parties. 15 (c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 17 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 18 International Development shall provide the Committee on 19 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 20 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a briefing 21 on the data and information collected pursuant to this sec- 22 tion and the steps taken to protect victims of domestic 23 violence, sexual assault, and child abuse and neglect. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2836.IH H2836 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS