[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 375 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 375
Supporting efforts to strengthen protection, assistance, and solutions
for Venezuelan women and children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 21, 2021
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cardin, Mr.
Kaine, and Mr. Cassidy) submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting efforts to strengthen protection, assistance, and solutions
for Venezuelan women and children.
Whereas the Venezuelan refugee and migration crisis represents the largest
recorded displacement crisis in the Western Hemisphere, with over
5,400,000 Venezuelans displaced outside of their home country as of
November 2020;
Whereas one-third of Venezuelans are food insecure, with the greatest impacts on
children, pregnant women, and the elderly, according to the World Food
Program;
Whereas femicides in Venezuela have increased significantly in recent years due
to rises in criminal violence, intimate partner violence, human
trafficking, endemic corruption, and lack of accountability for criminal
offenses;
Whereas the dire state of Venezuela's public health system, including extremely
high maternal and infant mortality rates, has compelled women and girls
to flee the country to give birth;
Whereas a 2019 report from the United Nations Population Fund stated that 95 in
every 1,000 births in Venezuela from 2003 to 2018 were to mothers aged
15 to 19;
Whereas women and girls fleeing Venezuela face grave threats of sexual violence,
exploitation, and trafficking by armed groups operating in border
regions, such as the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN);
Whereas, after fleeing the horrors in Venezuela, Venezuelan refugees and
migrants face additional challenges, including lack of access to safe
shelter, jobs, documentation, healthcare, and increased restrictions on
freedom of movement;
Whereas governments in Latin America and the Caribbean participating in the
regional coordination forum, the ``Quito Process'', issued a joint
declaration in November 2019 committing to strengthen measures against
human trafficking, gender-based violence, discrimination, and
xenophobia, and to establish a regional protection protocol for
Venezuelan refugee and migrant children and adolescents;
Whereas, on February 8, 2021, the Government of Colombia provided Temporary
Protected Status to eligible Venezuelans in Colombia--providing them
temporary legal status and work authorization for a period of 10 years;
Whereas, on March 8, 2021, the United States designated Venezuela for Temporary
Protected Status and provided Deferred Enforced Departure for eligible
Venezuelans on January 19, 2021;
Whereas the United States has committed to strengthen international protection
of women and children through the United States Strategy on Women,
Peace, and Security, which aims to ``promote the protection of women and
girls' human rights; access to humanitarian assistance; and safety from
violence, abuse, and exploitation around the world,'' as well as through
the United States Government Strategy on Advancing Protection and Care
for Children in Adversity; and
Whereas the United States has prioritized addressing the issue of gender-based
violence in humanitarian contexts by establishing a Safe from the Start
initiative, implemented by the Department of State and the United States
Agency for International Development: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) expresses grave concern for the massive and growing
humanitarian needs of Venezuelans, including over 5,400,000
Venezuelan refugees and migrants, with particular concern for
the impact of the displacement crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic
on women and children;
(2) recognizes the many communities across Latin America
and the Caribbean that continue to generously receive and host
Venezuelan refugees and migrants while also fighting to recover
from the COVID-19 pandemic;
(3) commends the efforts of the Government of Colombia for
granting Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans, and calls
on other refugee-hosting countries to consider similar
protections for Venezuelans;
(4) appreciates the participation in the Quito Process of
the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, and encourages implementation of
their commitments to strengthen national processes of
documentation and registration and to bolster protections for
Venezuelan refugees and migrants subject to gender-based
violence, human trafficking, and xenophobia;
(5) encourages governments hosting Venezuelan refugees and
migrants, as well as international and nongovernmental
organizations providing assistance, to ensure that health care,
including mental health, shelter, food assistance, and other
basic services are increasingly accessible to women and
children;
(6) calls on the international community, including both
humanitarian and development actors, to focus greater attention
and resources to address the violence, abuse, and exploitation
suffered by Venezuelan women and children, including by
disaggregating data by sex and age in needs assessments and
program reporting;
(7) supports increasing United States diplomatic
initiatives and humanitarian assistance to strengthen
protections for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and their host
communities, with an emphasis on the protection of women and
children; and
(8) underscores the need for Venezuelan women to
participate in efforts to restore democratic governance and
address the complex humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.
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