[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 112 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 112
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States condemns all
forms of violence against children globally and recognizes the harmful
impacts of violence against children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 14, 2019
Mr. Boozman (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Merkley, Mr.
Inhofe, Mr. Coons, Ms. Collins, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Sullivan, and Mrs.
Shaheen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States condemns all
forms of violence against children globally and recognizes the harmful
impacts of violence against children.
Whereas violence against children can take many forms, including sexual
violence, physical violence, emotional violence, abuse, neglect, and
exploitation;
Whereas, each year, more than 1,000,000,000 children worldwide are exposed to
violence;
Whereas, each year, the global economic impact of physical, psychological, and
sexual violence against children is estimated to be as high as
$7,000,000,000,000, which is 8 percent of global gross domestic product
(referred to in this preamble as ``global GDP'');
Whereas, around the world, an estimated 1 in 3 adolescent girls between 15 and
19 years of age, or 84,000,000 girls, have been victims of emotional,
physical, or sexual violence, which is often perpetrated by individuals
the girls know;
Whereas 1 in 5 girls in the developing world is said to be married before
reaching 18 years of age and, of those girls, an estimated 1 in 9 is
said to be married before reaching 15 years of age;
Whereas, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (commonly known as
``UNICEF''), if current child marriage rates continue, 120,000,000
girls, an average of 12,000,000 girls a year, will be married before
their 18th birthday over the next decade;
Whereas 246,000,000 boys and girls experience school-related gender-based
violence each year;
Whereas children with disabilities reportedly are 3 to 4 times more likely to
experience physical or sexual violence;
Whereas tens of millions of children living outside of family care, including
those living on the streets, working away from home, and in residential
care, are particularly vulnerable to violence and abuse;
Whereas an estimated 152,000,000 children are involved in child labor and
4,300,000 children are subject to forced labor, including in situations
of trafficking;
Whereas nearly half of the 68,500,000 individuals who are currently displaced by
conflict and war around the world are children and displacement exposes
those children to increased risk of exploitation, violence, and abuse;
Whereas, according to the United Nations, from 2016 to 2017, verified cases of
child recruitment, including forcible recruitment, and participation in
armed conflict--
(1) quadrupled in the Central African Republic;
(2) doubled in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and
(3) persisted at alarming levels in Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian
Arab Republic, and Yemen;
Whereas more than 10,000 children were killed or maimed in 2017 in armed
conflict;
Whereas the risks of online abuse and exploitation of children is constantly
growing, with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
reviewing cases involving 25,000,000 child sexual abuse images in 2015,
up from 450,000 in 2004;
Whereas unaddressed exposure to violence disrupts the development of critical
brain architecture and other organ structures, leaving children at
lifelong risk of disease and reduced potential;
Whereas studies show toxic stress relating to exposure to violent or dangerous
environments becomes damaging to learning, behavior, and health across a
lifespan;
Whereas violence against children can lead to negative health consequences,
including injury, noncommunicable and communicable diseases, and poor
maternal and child health outcomes;
Whereas all forms of violence in childhood have a significant negative impact on
educational outcomes, including school attendance and drop-out rates,
and can further limit access to the physical, mental health,
psychosocial and cognitive protections that safe educational settings
provide;
Whereas decades of behavioral and social science research have demonstrated that
building adaptive capacities, known as resilience, through stable and
committed relationships with a supportive caregiver or other adult can
lessen the harmful developmental effects of violence in children and
youth;
Whereas, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, the United States invests 0.5 percent of official
development assistance in programs that are designed to prevent and
address violence against children and youth;
Whereas the United States, in coordination with public-private partnerships and
other organizations, has endorsed the technical package called
``INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children''
(referred to in this preamble as ``INSPIRE'') put forth by the World
Health Organization, with substantial technical input from the United
States Government, including from the Centers for Disease Control and
United State Agency for International Development;
Whereas INSPIRE contains 7 evidence-based strategies to end violence against
children that include--
(1) implementing and enforcing relevant laws;
(2) addressing harmful gender and other social norms;
(3) creating and sustaining safe communities;
(4) supporting parents and caregivers;
(5) improving household economic security to reduce violence in the
home;
(6) improving access to health services, social welfare, and criminal
justice support; and
(7) ensuring safe school environments that provide gender-equitable
education and social-emotional learning and life skills trainings; and
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development, the Department
of State, the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security,
and the Department of Health and Human Services each play a critical
role in preventing and responding to violence against children and
youth: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the United
States--
(1) condemns all forms of violence against children and
youth globally, including physical, mental, and sexual
violence, neglect, abuse, maltreatment, and exploitation;
(2) recognizes--
(A) the harmful impact that violence against
children and youth has on the healthy development of
children; and
(B) the harmful economic impact of violence against
children and youth; and
(3) should--
(A) develop and implement a comprehensive and
coordinated strategy built on evidence-based practices,
including the technical package called ``INSPIRE: Seven
Strategies for Ending Violence against Children'' put
forth by the World Health Organization; and
(B) adopt common metrics and indicators to monitor
progress across Federal agencies to prevent, address,
and end violence against children and youth globally.
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