,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bhcf  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #ag1 #bjai,mrs4 
,torres of ,california 7for herself and 
,mrs4 ,wagner7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a     
,,bill  ,to authorize appropriations for
 the ,department of ,state for fiscal   
years #bjbj through #bjbb to provide    
assistance to ,el ,salvador1 ,guatemala1
 and ,honduras through bilateral        
compacts to increase protection of women
 and children in their homes and        
communities and reduce female homicides1
 domestic violence1 and sexual assault4 
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,central ,american ,women and   
,children ,protection ,act of #bjai4    
#b4 ,findings ,congress makes the       
following findings3  7#a7 ,the ,northern
 ,triangle countries of ,el ,salvador1  
,honduras1 and ,guatemala have among the
 highest homicide rates in the world4   
,in #bjag1 there were #fj homicides per 

#ajj1jjj people in ,el ,salvador1 #dc4f 
homicides per #ajj1jjj people in        
,honduras1 and #bf4a homicides per      
#ajj1jjj people in ,guatemala4  7#b7    
,guatemala1 ,honduras1 and ,el ,salvador
 are characterized by a high prevalence 
of drug- and gang-related violence1     
murder1 and crimes involving sexual- and
 gender-based violence4 ,the region also
 has high rates of domestic violence1   
child abuse1 and sexual assault4  7#c7  
,central ,america ranks high among      
regions of the world for female         
homicides4 ,a combined #hja women were  
victims of homicide in ,el ,salvador1   
,honduras1 and ,guatemala in #bjag      
alone1 according to the ,united ,nations
 ,office of ,drug ,control and ,crime4  
7#d7 ,el ,salvador and ,honduras are    
both among the top #c countries in the  
world with the highest child homicides  
rates1 with more than #bb and #cb deaths
 per #ajj1jjj children respectively1    
according to the nongovernmental        
organization ,save the ,children4  7#e7 

,thousands of women1 children1 and      
families are fleeing unsafe homes and   
communities each month in these         
countries due to surging violence4  7#f7
 ,violent crimes against women and      
children are substantially              
under-reported because the majority of  
victims lack safe access to protection  
and justice4  7#g7 ,guatemala1          
,honduras1 and ,el ,salvador governments
 allow impunity for perpetrators of     
violence against women and children1    
with less than #aj percent of reported  
cases resulting in conviction4  7#h7    
,according to a study conducted by the  
,woodrow ,wilson ,international ,center 
for ,scholars1 childhood experiences    
with domestic violence in ,latin        
,america are a major risk factor for    
future criminal behavior4 ,fifty-six    
percent of incarcerated women and #ei   
percent of incarcerated men surveyed    
experienced intra-familial violence     
during childhood4  #c4 ,women and       
children protection ,compacts  7a7      

,authorization ,to enter into compacts  
,the ,secretary of ,state is authorized 
to enter into bilateral agreements with 
the ,governments of ,el ,salvador1      
,guatemala1 and ,honduras 7in this ,act 
referred to as ,compact ,countries7 to  
be known as ,women and ,children        
,protection ,compacts 7in this ,act     
referred to as ,compacts71 for the      
purposes of--  7#a7 strengthening the   
,compact ,countries' criminal justice   
systems and civil protection courts to  
protect women and children and serve    
victims of domestic violence1 sexual    
assault1 and child abuse and neglect and
 hold perpetrators accountable2  7#b7   
securing1 creating1 and sustaining safe 
communities1 building on current        
place-based approaches to prevent and   
deter violence against women and        
children2  7#c7 ensuring schools are    
safe and promoting the prevention and   
early detection of gender-based and     
domestic abuse within communities in the
 ,compact ,countries2 and  7#d7         

providing security within the region to 
families and unaccompanied children     
fleeing domestic1 gang1 or drug         
violence4  7b7 ,components of ,compact  
,a ,compact shall establish a #c to #f  
year plan for achieving shared          
objectives articulated in ,compacts1 in 
furtherance of the purposes of this     
,act1 and shall include--  7#a7         
identification of areas of highest      
incidence of violence against women and 
children2  7#b7 evaluation of women and 
child victims' access to protection and 
justice2  7#c7 evaluation of justice    
system capacity to respond to reports of
 femicide1 sexual assault1 domestic     
violence1 and child abuse and neglect   
and to hold perpetrators accountable2   
7#d7 identification of measurable goals 
to protect women and children to deter  
crimes against them that the ,compact   
commits to achieve during the term of   
the ,compact2  7#e7 indicators to       
monitor and measure progress toward     
achieving these objectives1 including   

reductions in prevalence of femicide1   
sexual assault1 domestic violence1 and  
child abuse and neglect2 and  7#f7      
provisions to ensure funds provided     
under the ,compact may be fully         
accounted for with an adequate audit    
trail4  #d4 ,authorization of assistance
  7a7 ,assistance ,the ,secretary of    
,state and the ,administrator of the    
,united ,states ,agency for             
,international ,development are         
authorized to provide assistance to     
assist the ,government of ,el ,salvador1
 the ,government of ,guatemala1 or the  
,government of ,honduras if the country 
enters into a ,compact4  7b7            
,prohibition of direct assistance ,no   
funds provided pursuant to this ,act    
shall be provided directly to the       
,governments of ,el ,salvador1          
,guatemala1 and ,honduras4  7c7         
,authorization of appropriations ,there 
is authorized to be appropriated        
#bj1jjj1jj for each of fiscal years     
#bjbj1 #bjba1 and #bjbb to carry out    

this ,act4  7d7 ,suspension of          
assistance  7#a7 ,in general ,the       
,secretary may suspend or terminate     
assistance authorized by this ,act to   
any of the three countries if the       
,secretary determines that--  7,a7 the  
country's government is engaged in      
activities that are contrary to the     
national security interests of the      
,united ,states2  7,b7 the country or   
recipient entity has engaged in a       
pattern of actions inconsistent with the
 criteria used to determine the         
eligibility of the country or entity1 as
 the case may be2 or  7,c7 the country  
or recipient entity has failed to make  
sufficient progress to meet the goals of
 the ,compact4  7#b7 ,reinstatement ,the
 ,secretary may reinstate assistance for
 a country or entity suspended or       
terminated under this paragraph only if 
the ,secretary certifies to ,congress   
that the country or entity has taken    
steps to correct each condition for     
which assistance was suspended or       

terminated under paragraph 7#a74  #e4   
,compact progress reports and briefing  
7a7 ,in general ,the ,secretary of      
,state shall submit to ,congress not    
later than ,september #cj of each fiscal
 year covered by the authorization a    
joint report that contains a detailed   
description of the implementation of the
 ,compacts during the prior year4  7b7  
,contents ,the report under subsection  
7a7 for fiscal year #bjbb shall         
include-- 7#a7 information on the       
overall rates of gender-based violence  
in the ,northern ,triangle countries1   
including by using victimization        
surveys1 regardless of whether or not   
these acts of violence are reported to  
government authorities2  7#b7           
information on incidences of            
gender-based violence cases reported to 
the authorities in the ,northern        
,triangle countries and the percentage  
of perpetrators investigated1           
apprehended1 prosecuted1 and convicted2 
7#c7 information on the capacity and    

resource allocation of child welfare    
systems in each ,northern ,triangle     
country to protect unaccompanied        
children1 including runaways and refugee
 returnees in ,northern ,triangle       
countries2  7#d7 the percentage of      
reported violence against women and     
children cases reaching conviction2     
7#e7 a baseline and percentage changes  
in women and children victims receiving 
legal and social services2  7#f7 a      
baseline and percentage changes in      
school retention rates2  7#g7 a baseline
 and changes in capacity of police1     
prosecution service1 and courts to      
combat violence against women and       
children2 and  7#h7 independent external
 evaluation of funded programs1         
including compliance with terms of the  
,compacts by all parties4  7c7 ,briefing
 ,not later than #ahj days after the    
date of the enactment of this ,act1 the 
,secretary of ,state and the            
,administrator of the ,united ,states   
,agency for ,international ,development 

shall provide the ,committee on ,foreign
 ,relations of the ,senate and the      
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the  
,house of ,representatives a briefing on
 the data and information collected     
pursuant to this section and the steps  
taken to protect victims of domestic    
violence1 sexual assault1 and child     
abuse and neglect4