[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1642 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1642
To require the Secretary of State to submit a report on the status of
women and girls in Afghanistan, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 13, 2021
Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of State to submit a report on the status of
women and girls in Afghanistan, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Women's and Girls' Rights in
Afghanistan Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. AFGHAN CIVIL SOCIETY DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``Afghan civil society'' means the range of
formal and informal organizations in Afghanistan that reflect community
interests and deliver some essential services.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) A large-scale withdrawal of United States Armed Forces
from Afghanistan will pose a risk to those who are the most
vulnerable in Afghanistan, especially women and girls.
(2) When the Taliban governed Afghanistan from 1996 to
2001, it barred women and girls from taking most jobs or going
to school and practically made them prisoners in their own
homes based on its extremist religious ideology. Further, the
Taliban brutally imposed social restrictions on women, such as
mandatory burqa coverings, and restricted their access to
health care. The Taliban also prohibited women from appearing
in public spaces without a male chaperone and imposed extremely
violent punishments, often publicly, upon women for breaking
its decrees.
(3) The women of Afghanistan have achieved much since the
fall of the Taliban government, even as insecurity,
underdevelopment, and patriarchal norms continue to limit their
rights and opportunities in much of Afghanistan.
(4) Through strong support from the United States and the
international community--
(A) female enrollment in public schools in
Afghanistan has risen from zero in 2001 to more than
3,000,000 in 2010; and
(B) as of 2019--
(i) millions of women in Afghanistan have
voted, and 25 percent of parliamentarians in
Afghanistan are women;
(ii) women held 13 seats as ministers and
deputy ministers and 4 women served as
ambassadors; and
(iii) beyond government, women served as
university instructors and professors, judges,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, police and army
personnel, health professionals, journalists,
and entrepreneurs.
(5) Women's empowerment continues to serve United States
primary interests in Afghanistan because women are sources of
both peace and economic progress in the country.
(6) If the United States military withdraws and the Taliban
regains influence, the United States will have little ability
to preserve the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, and
there is fear that those women and girls will again be
vulnerable to intimidation and marginalization.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) since 2001, Afghan civil society has emerged as an
important engine of social and political development;
(2) any future political order in Afghanistan should not
only secure the gains made in democratic, political, human, and
women's rights, but also work to increase the ability of women
to be treated equally throughout society because respecting
rights is essential to securing a lasting peace and reflects
the will of the Afghan people;
(3) the United States must endeavor to preserve the hard-
won gains of the past 2 decades, particularly as related to the
role and protection of women and girls in civil society; and
(4) long-term stability in Afghanistan can best be achieved
and maintained by an inclusive Afghan government that is
responsive to the needs of all its diverse communities and
respects the rights of all its citizens, especially women.
SEC. 5. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES REGARDING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND
GIRLS OF AFGHANISTAN.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to continue to support the rights of women and girls in
Afghan civil society after the withdrawal of the Armed Forces
of the United States from Afghanistan;
(2) to strongly oppose any return to political arrangements
that would significantly weaken the rights of women in
Afghanistan;
(3) to refuse to provide economic aid to an Afghan
government (whether including or controlled by the Taliban) if
such government does not maintain minimal standards, statutory
or otherwise, of women's rights, such as by denying women
access to health care and primary and secondary education,
prohibiting women from appearing outside of a household without
a male relative, or disqualifying women from jobs on the basis
of gender;
(4) to instruct, as appropriate, representatives of the
United States Government to use the voice, aid, and influence
of the United States directly with the Government of
Afghanistan and the Taliban, and at the United Nations, to
preserve the civil and human rights of the women and girls of
Afghanistan;
(5) to continue providing the United States aid and
assistance necessary to preserve the rights of women and girls
in Afghanistan so that they may continue to pursue educational
and professional opportunities and be equal members of Afghan
civil society; and
(6) to identify individuals who violate the basic rights of
women in Afghanistan, as those rights are defined by the
Constitution of Afghanistan or set by minimal international
human right standards, such as by committing murder, lynching,
and grievous domestic violence against women, and to ensure
those individuals are brought to justice, prosecuted, and
imprisoned.
SEC. 6. REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and every 180 days thereafter through 2024, the Secretary of State
shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs and
the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives a
report that includes the following:
(1) An assessment of the conditions of women and girls in
Afghan civil society following the departure of United States
and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, including
the access of those women and girls to primary and secondary
education, jobs, health care, and equal status in society as
compared to men.
(2) An assessment of the status of any assurances made by
the Taliban related to preserving the rights of women and girls
in Afghanistan, including the access of those women and girls
to primary and secondary education, jobs, health care, and
equal status in society as compared to men.
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