,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #eehd  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #ah  
7legislative day1 ,december #af71       
#bjbd,mr4 ,kaine 7for himself and ,mr4  
,tillis7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,foreign ,relations  ,a  
,,bill  ,to support foreign assistance  
programs and diplomatic initiatives to  
counter violence in the ,western        
,hemisphere4  #a4 ,short title2 table of
 contents  7a7 ,short title ,this ,act  
may be cited as the ,countering         
,violence in the ,western ,hemisphere   
,act4  7b7 ,table of contents ,the table
 of contents for this ,act is as        
follows3 ,sec4 #a4 ,short title2 table  
of contents4,sec4 #b4 ,definitions4,sec4
 #c4 ,including gender-based violence in
 ,country ,reports on ,human ,rights    
,practices4,sec4 #d4 ,engagement with   
women-led local organizations4,sec4 #e4 
,economic empowerment programming4,sec4 
#f4 ,training local law                 

enforcement4,sec4 #g4 ,contribution to  
the ,united ,nations ,trust ,fund to    
,end ,violence against ,women4,sec4 #h4 
,educational exchange programming4,sec4 
#i4 ,report on violence as a driver of  
migration and an indicator of foreign   
influence4  #b4 ,definitions ,in this   
,act3 7#a7 ,appropriate congressional   
committees ,the term appropriate        
congressional committees means-- 7,a7   
the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of
 the ,senate2  7,b7 the ,committee on   
,appropriations of the ,senate2  7,c7   
the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of  
the ,house of ,representatives2 and     
7,d7 the ,committee on ,appropriations  
of the ,house of ,representatives4  7#b7
 ,,usaid ,the term ,,usaid means the    
,united ,states ,agency for             
,international ,development4  7#c7      
,violence against women and children    
,the term violence against women and    
children means any harmful threat or act
 directed at an individual or group     
based on actual or perceived biological 

sex1 gender identity or expression1     
sexual orientation1 or a lack of        
adherence to varying                    
socially-constructed norms around       
masculinity and femininity4  #c4        
,including gender-based violence in     
,country ,reports on ,human ,rights     
,practices ,section #aaf7;d7 of the     
,foreign ,assistance ,act of #aifa 7#bb 
,u4,s4,c4 #baean7d77 is amended-- 7#a7  
in paragraph 7#aa7-- 7,a7 in            
subparagraph 7,b71 by adding and at the 
end2 and  7,b7 in subparagraph 7,c71 by 
striking and at the end2  7#b7 in       
paragraph 7#ab77;,c77ii71 by striking   
the period at the end and inserting a   
semicolon2  7#c7 in paragraph 7#ac7--   
7,a7 in the matter preceding            
subparagraph 7,a71 by striking ,wherever
 and inserting wherever2 and  7,b7 in   
subparagraph 7,e71 by striking the      
period at the end and inserting 2 and2  
and  7#d7 by adding at the end the      
following3  7#ad7 wherever applicable1 a
 description of the nature and extent of

 gender-based violence4  4  #d4         
,engagement with women-led local        
organizations  7a7 ,in general ,,usaid  
shall-- 7#a7 within its model of locally
 led development1 engage partner        
governments in the ,western ,hemisphere 
to develop and implement programming to 
increase direct local funding to        
women-led or women-focused nonprofit    
organizations and local partners        
working-- 7,a7 to counter violence      
against women and children within their 
respective communities2  7,b7 to empower
 victims of violence against women and  
children2 and  7,c7 to support the      
economic empowerment1 financial         
independence1 and security of women2 and
  7#b7 simplify and increase access to  
resources for local partners working to 
advance efforts to prevent and address  
violence against women and children in  
the ,western ,hemisphere4  7b7 ,briefing
 ,not later than #ij days after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 ,,usaid 
shall brief appropriate congressional   

committees regarding its proposed plans 
to implement subsection 7a74  7c7       
,strategy ,not later than #ahj days     
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,administrator of ,,usaid     
shall submit a strategy to the          
appropriate congressional committees    
that incorporates specific1 measurable  
benchmarks to achieve the purposes      
described in subsection 7a74  7d7       
,annual progress update ,not later than 
#a year after the date of the enactment 
of this ,act1 and annually thereafter   
for the following #e years1 the         
,administrator of ,,usaid shall submit  
to the appropriate congressional        
committees a written description of the 
progress made by ,,usaid towards        
achieving the benchmarks included in the
 strategy submitted pursuant to         
subsection 7c74  #e4 ,economic          
empowerment programming ,the            
,administrator of ,,usaid shall expand  
and strengthen the implementation of    
savings groups in the ,western          

,hemisphere by including additional     
partner countries and integrating       
violence against women and children     
prevention and response activities1 such
 as household dialogues4  #f4 ,training 
local law enforcement  7a7              
,collaboration ,the ,department of      
,state and ,,usaid shall collaborate    
with local law enforcement and criminal 
justice agencies to conduct training to 
report1 prevent1 investigate1 and       
prosecute instances of gender-based     
violence in the ,western ,hemisphere4   
7b7 ,gender-based violence prevention   
training program ,the ,secretary of     
,state shall work with the              
,international ,law ,enforcement        
,academy ,san ,salvador 7,,ilea ,san    
,salvador7 and the ,bureau of           
,international ,narcotics and ,law      
,enforcement ,affairs to develop and    
implement a training program for foreign
 law enforcement officers designed to   
help prevent1 investigate1 prosecute1   
and report instances of gender-based    

violence4  7c7 ,western ,hemisphere     
gender-based violence law enforcement   
engagement strategy ,not later than #ahj
 days after the date of the enactment of
 this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,state1 in
 collaboration with the ,,usaid         
,administrator1 shall develop and submit
 to the appropriate congressional       
committees a strategy-- 7#a7 to support 
law enforcement and criminal justice    
agencies in reporting1 preventing1      
investigating1 and prosecuting instances
 of gender-based violence in the        
,western ,hemisphere2 and  7#b7 to      
increase the focuses of the ,department 
of ,state and ,,usaid on-- 7,a7         
rights-based1 gender-responsive1 and    
trauma-informed training and education  
on gender-based violence prevention and 
investigation2  7,b7 proactive          
engagement with civil society           
organizations1 academia1 and            
international supporting actors for an  
informed response to gender-based       
violence2 and  7,c7 the standardization 

of the investigation processes for cases
 of gender-based violence that take a   
victim and survivor-centered and        
rights-based approach4  #g4             
,contribution to the ,united ,nations   
,trust ,fund to ,end ,violence against  
,women ,of the amounts made available   
under the heading ,international        
,organizations and ,programs for fiscal 
year #bjbe and for each subsequent      
fiscal year1 #b1jjj1jjj shall be made   
available annually for the ,united      
,nations ,trust ,fund to ,end ,violence 
,against ,women4  #h4 ,educational      
exchange programming  7a7 ,research     
partnerships and educational exchange   
opportunities ,the ,secretary of ,state 
and the ,,usaid ,administrator shall    
strengthen and expand research          
partnerships and educational exchange   
opportunities for scholars1 researchers1
 and students through engagement with   
nongovernmental organizations and       
private sector institutions that work on
 violence against women and children in 

the ,western ,hemisphere4  7b7          
,fulbright scholars ,the ,assistant     
,secretary of ,state for ,educational   
and ,cultural ,affairs shall encourage  
the participation in the ,j4 ,william   
,fulbright ,educational ,exchange       
,program of researchers1 scholars1 and  
students who are focused on researching 
and addressing the root causes of       
violence against women and children in  
the ,western ,hemisphere4  7c7 ,global  
forums ,the ,ambassador-at-,large for   
the ,office of ,global ,women's ,issues 
shall encourage the involvement of      
scholars from the ,western ,hemisphere  
focusing on researching violence against
 women and children in global forums and
 sessions to share their findings and to
 strengthen the ,united ,states'        
response to violence against women and  
children in the ,western ,hemisphere4   
#i4 ,report on violence as a driver of  
migration and an indicator of foreign   
influence ,not later than #ahj days     
after the date of the enactment of this 

,act1 the ,secretary of ,state1 in      
collaboration with the ,,usaid          
,administrator1 shall submit a report to
 the appropriate congressional          
committees that-- 7#a7 examines the role
 of violence against women and children 
in the ,western ,hemisphere as a driver 
of irregular migration2  7#b7 identifies
 gaps in the ,united ,states' strategy  
for addressing the root causes of       
migration in ,central ,america to       
counter violence against women and      
children2  7#c7 identifies which foreign
 governments are involved in countering 
or promoting violence against women and 
children2  7#d7 examines ways in which  
the ,united ,states and its allies can  
continue as the leading partner in the  
region on countering violence against   
women and children2 and  7#e7 contains a
 regional analysis of the root causes of
 violence against women and children and
 its impact on irregular migration1     
particular migration originating from   
,central ,america and the ,andean       

region4