[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 220 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 220
Recognizing violence against women in politics as a global phenomenon
and supporting women's full and meaningful participation in political
life.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 10, 2023
Ms. Tlaib (for herself, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Omar, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, and
Ms. Bush) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing violence against women in politics as a global phenomenon
and supporting women's full and meaningful participation in political
life.
Whereas women have been on the front lines of social justice movements around
the world and throughout our Nation's history;
Whereas women are underrepresented in politics across the globe, comprising only
one-quarter of all legislators worldwide;
Whereas women are underrepresented at every level of government in the United
States;
Whereas, despite this disproportionate underrepresentation, the presence of
women in political institutions, including women officeholders and staff
with diverse racial, ethnic, religious, sexual, and class identities,
has increased significantly in the United States in recent years;
Whereas violence against women is a systemic problem embedded in many aspects of
our society, including our most esteemed political institutions;
Whereas violence against women in politics is a specific, gendered phenomenon
stemming from a resistance to women's increased political participation
and intending to undermine women as political actors;
Whereas violence against women in politics occurs at both individual and
institutional levels and takes many forms, in person and online,
including misogynistic verbal attacks, sexual harassment, death threats,
and economic, psychological, or physical violence meant to discourage
women from participating fully in the political arena;
Whereas research shows that violence against women in politics is a global
phenomenon;
Whereas a 2016 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) report
revealed the prevalence of violence against women in politics in 40
developing countries and outlined steps to combat it;
Whereas a 2016 Inter-Parliamentary Union survey of women parliamentarians from
39 countries found that 81.8 percent of respondents were subjected to
psychological violence, 44.4 percent of whom received threats of death,
rape, beatings, or abduction during their parliamentary terms, including
threats to kidnap or kill their children;
Whereas research, including a 2019 report from the National Democratic Institute
for International Affairs, has shown that women candidates and other
politically involved women are more likely than men to experience abuse
and harassment on social media platforms;
Whereas a 2020 report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that both
Democratic and Republican women officeholders received a higher share of
abusive comments on social media platforms in comparison to their male
peers;
Whereas a 2021 study published by the Wilson Center observed that gendered and
sexualized narratives were potent weapons in disinformation campaigns
targeting women leaders in the United States and abroad;
Whereas a 2018 Amnesty International report revealed the intersectional nature
of online, gender-based violence by highlighting the experiences of
women of color, women from ethnic and religious minorities, women with
disabilities, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women, and nonbinary
individuals;
Whereas a 2018 report from an expert group meeting convened by the United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
indicated that women of color and women of marginalized communities are
disproportionately affected by violence against women in politics
worldwide;
Whereas findings from a 2017 survey of United States mayors conducted by 6
political scientists revealed that women are more likely than their male
counterparts to experience physical and psychological abuse;
Whereas there have been documented instances of violence against women in the
United States Congress, including shootings, assault, sexual harassment,
nonconsensual distribution of intimate visual depictions, death threats,
and sexist verbal attacks;
Whereas violence against women in politics has been found to limit women's civic
engagement as well as discourage and discredit women's political
participation;
Whereas a 2017 USAID report called for increased attention to the issue of
violence against women in politics as well as further research on its
manifestation within various political contexts, including protests,
polling places, campaigns, political parties, and government
institutions; and
Whereas a 2019 report by the Center for American Women and Politics noted the
presence of violence against women in politics during the 2018 midterm
elections and called for more research to fully understand the
prevalence of such violence across all levels of government, how other
identities like race and ethnicity shape experiences of gendered abuse
and harassment, and how these experiences affect the emergence of female
political candidates in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports women's full and meaningful participation in
political life;
(2) recognizes violence against women in politics as a form
of gender-based violence that is specific to women's
experiences in the political arena;
(3) recognizes that violence against women in politics is a
global phenomenon and that more research should be conducted to
examine the extent and effects of such violence in the United
States; and
(4) urges the United States Government to adopt policies
that promote women's political participation and mitigate
violence against women in politics, in person and online, in
the United States and abroad.
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