S. 2120Senate115th Congress (2017-2019)In Committee

International Violence Against Women Act of 2017

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 7:02 PM UTC

The International Violence Against Women Act of 2017 directs the United States to create a coordinated foreign‑policy strategy to prevent and respond to gender‑based violence worldwide. It establishes an Office of Global Women’s Issues in the State Department and a senior gender‑equality coordinator at USAID, and requires regular planning, reporting, and congressional briefings. The law targets low‑income countries with high rates of violence and aims to improve the safety and rights of women and girls abroad.

Key Provisions

Within 180 days, the State Department’s Ambassador‑at‑Large for Global Women’s Issues and the USAID Senior Coordinator must develop or update a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women, to be reviewed by Congress and posted online, and refreshed every four years.
The officials must select at least four low‑income or lower‑middle‑income countries with high levels of gender‑based violence and create comprehensive, multisectoral country plans that include capacity assessments, coordination mechanisms, monitoring, budgeting, and provisions for vulnerable groups.
The Act creates the Office of Global Women’s Issues, headed by a presidentially appointed Ambassador‑at‑Large, to coordinate all U.S. government efforts on gender equality and violence prevention, collect data, and represent the U.S. in diplomatic forums.
It establishes a Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at USAID to direct agency programs, integrate gender analysis, and advise the agency administrator.
Both the Ambassador and Senior Coordinator must submit annual reports and briefings to the relevant congressional committees detailing strategies, activities, budgets, and outcomes.
The law clarifies that it does not authorize any new appropriations; funding must come from existing authorized resources.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S7215)

Foreign Relations Committee

November 14, 2017

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

November 14, 2017

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S7215)

Foreign Relations Committee

November 14, 2017

Floor Debate

2 members

What members said about S. 2120 on the floor

1 Republican1 Democrat

Sen. Patrick J. LeahyD-VT · Nov 14, 2017

Mr. President, today, I am introducing the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2017. This legislation, if enacted, will help ensure that when Americans entrust corporations with their most sensitive personal information, these corporations take the right steps to keep this information secure, and do the right thing in the event of a data breach. In today's modern world, data security is no longer just about protecting our identities and our bank accounts; it is about protecting our privacy and even our National security.

The need for this legislation has long been clear, and never more so than in the wake of the recent, massive Equifax data breach. After media investigations and multiple Congressional hearings, we learned that the Equifax breach exposed the sensitive personal information of almost half the American population. We also learned that Equifax failed to take basic steps to secure its databases, and waited an unjustifiably long period before notifying consumers and regulators. Clearly, it is past time for all corporations that hold our personal information to maintain some common-sense, baseline cybersecurity standards.

Corporations make significant profits from our personal information, and they should be obligated to keep it safe. Yet too often, data breaches continue to plague American businesses

and compromise the privacy of millions of consumers. At the same time, the amount of information we share with corporations who are the target of these breaches is growing. Corporations collect and store our social security numbers, our bank account information, and our email addresses. They collect information about our private health and medical conditions. They know what routes we take to work and where we drop our kids off at school. They can replicate our fingerprints or even faceprints. We trust them with private photographs that we store in the cloud. This information is increasingly targeted by both criminal hackers and nation-states, including hostile foreign powers.

The Consumer Privacy Protection Act I am introducing today is based on legislation I first introduced in 2015, and builds and expands on data security legislation that I have introduced in Congress since 2005. It seeks to protect the vast amount of information that we now share with corporations each and every day. Americans want to know that the corporations who are profiting from their information are actually doing something to prevent the next data breach. Americans want to know when someone has had unauthorized access to their bank accounts and to their private family photographs, but they do not just want to be notified of yet another data breach. Consumers should not have to settle for mere notice of data breaches. American consumers deserve protection. This legislation would accomplish that.

The Consumer Privacy Protection Act requires that corporations meet certain baseline privacy and data security standards to keep information they store about their customers safe, and requires that corporations provide notice and protection to consumers in the event of a breach. This legislation protects broad categories of data, including, (1) social security numbers and other government-issued identification numbers; (2) financial account information, including credit card numbers and bank accounts; (3) online usernames and passwords, including email names and passwords; (4) unique biometric data, including fingerprints; (5) information about a person's physical and mental health; (6) information about geolocation; and (7) access to private digital photographs and videos.

It is true that not every breach can be prevented. Cyber criminals and nation-state actors are determined and constantly looking for new ways to pierce the most sophisticated security systems. But just as we expect a bank to put a lock on the front door and an alarm on the vault to protect its customers' money, we expect corporations to take reasonable measures to protect the personal information they collect from us. Unfortunately, many of the corporations that profit from the very information that we entrust them to protect, have woefully inadequate measures to secure this information. For others, security is simply not a priority. American consumers deserve better and our national security demands it.

This legislation creates civil penalties for corporations that fail to meet the required privacy and data security standards established in the bill or fail to provide notice and protection to consumers when a breach occurs. The Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and State attorneys general each have a role in enforcement. This legislation also requires corporations to inform Federal law enforcement of all large data breaches, as well as breaches that could impact the federal government. Such notification is necessary to help law enforcement bring these cyber criminals to justice and identify patterns that help protect against future attacks.

Many Americans understandably assume Federal law already protects this sensitive information--common sense tells us that it should. Unfortunately, the reality is that it does not. States provide a patchwork of protection, and while some laws are strong, others are not. For example, my home state of Vermont has a strong data breach notification law that that has been in effect since 2007. But there are many other States that have not passed data security laws designed to prevent data breaches.

This legislation sets a floor: a baseline standard that that protects Americans across the country, while also freeing individual States to provide even stronger protections to their residents. In crafting Federal law, we must be careful not to override strong State laws, but we also need to ensure that all Americans, regardless of where they live, have their privacy protected. To this end, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act preempts State law relating to data security and data breach notification only to the extent that the protections under those laws are weaker than those provided for in this bill. We must ensure that consumers do not lose privacy protections they currently enjoy. Since this bill is modeled after those States with the strongest consumer protections, I believe it will improve protections for consumers in nearly every State.

I am joined today by Senators Markey, Blumenthal, Wyden, Franken, and Baldwin in introducing this legislation. These Senators have long shared my commitment to protecting consumer privacy. This legislation also has the support of leading consumer privacy advocates, including: the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Consumer Federation of America, New America's Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge.

Millions of Americans who have had their personal information compromised or stolen as a result of a data breach consider this issue to be of critical importance and a priority for the Senate. Protecting privacy rights should be important to all of us, regardless of party or ideology. I hope all Senators will support this common-sense measure to better protect Americans' privacy.

Sen. Susan M. CollinsR-ME · Nov 14, 2017

Mr. President, today, I join my colleagues, Senators Shaheen, Isakson, and Menendez, in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act of 2017. This legislation makes ending violence…

Mr. President, today, I join my colleagues, Senators Shaheen, Isakson, and Menendez, in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act of 2017. This legislation makes ending violence against women and girls a top diplomatic priority. It permanently authorizes the State Department's Office of Global Women's Issues and the position of the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. It requires the Administration to develop and implement an annual strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls for each of the five years after the date of enactment. This bill would ensure that efforts begun under President George W. Bush and President Obama to combat gender-based violence continue in future Administrations.

Mr. President, we have witnessed great strides in women's equality in our own Country, and in much of the world, over the past century. Across vast swathes of the globe, however, violence against women and forced marriage remain everyday problems. One out of every three women worldwide will be physically, sexually, or otherwise abused during her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. This type of violence ranges from domestic violence, rape, and acid burnings to dowry deaths and so-called ``honor killings.'' Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation, a public health epidemic, and a barrier to solving global challenges such as extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, and conflict. Such violence is often exacerbated in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings.

In Iraq and Syria, girls and women have been abducted from their homes and villages, sold into sexual slavery, and forced into marriages with fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In Burma, rape is used as a weapon against the women and girls of the Rohingya ethnic group. In Nigeria, girls as young as 11-years-old are offered a horrendous choice by Boko Haram: carry out suicide bomb attacks against Nigerian villages or live in forced marriages and sexual slavery.

This systemic targeting of women is not confined to conflict zones. In India, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women said that they experience such crimes ``from womb to tomb.'' Compounding this tragedy, local police often decline to investigate or seek justice. In Afghanistan, women and girls are concerned that as Western forces draw down and attention shifts away from their country, the fragile gains that have been made there could be lost.

The International Violence Against Women Act--IVAWA--ensures that the U.S. will continue to take a leadership role in combatting these problems. It establishes that it is the policy of the United States to take action to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the globe and to systematically integrate and coordinate efforts to address gender-based violence into U.S. foreign policy and foreign assistance programs.

Specifically, IVAWA will foster efforts in four areas. First, it will increase legal and judicial protections by establishing and supporting laws and legal structures that prevent and appropriately respond to all forms of violence against women and girls, including ``honor killings'' and forced marriage. Emphasis will be placed on promoting political, legal, and institutional reforms that recognize violence against women and girls as a crime and train police and the judiciary to hold violators accountable and to respond to the needs of victims. Second, IVAWA will increase efforts to build health sector capacity, integrating programs to address violence against women and girls into existing health programs focused on child survival, women's health, and HIV/AIDS prevention. Third, IVAWA will focus on preventing violence by changing community norms and attitudes about the acceptability of violence against women and girls. And fourth, IVAWA will focus on reducing women and girls' vulnerability to violence by improving their economic status and educational opportunities. Efforts will include ensuring that women have access to job training and employment opportunities and increasing their right to own land and property, allowing them to potentially support themselves and their children.

Violence has a profound effect on the lives of women and girls. In addition to being a pressing human rights issue, such violence contributes to inequality and political instability, making it a security issue as well as a moral issue for us all. I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues to end violence against women and girls and to provide the assistance and resources necessary to achieve this goal.

Sen. Susan M. CollinsR-ME · Nov 14, 2017

Mr. President, today, I join my colleagues, Senators Shaheen, Isakson, and Menendez, in introducing the International Violence Against Women Act of 2017. This legislation makes ending violence…

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Introduced in SenateIssued November 14, 2017

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 2120

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 14, 2017

Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Isakson, and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To prevent international violence against women, and for other purposes.

Short title; table of contents

(a)

Short title; table of contents

This Act may be cited as the International Violence Against Women Act of 2017.

(b)

Table of contents

The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Statement of policy.

TITLE I—United States strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally

Sec. 101. Global strategy requirement.

Sec. 102. Country plans.

Sec. 103. Report on priority country selection and country plans.

Sec. 104. Rule of construction.

TITLE II—Oversight and Accountability

Sec. 201. Definitions.

Sec. 202. Office of Global Women’s Issues.

Sec. 203. Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

Sec. 204. Briefing.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings:

(1)

An estimated one out of every three women throughout the world will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

(2)

Up to 70 percent of women in some countries report experiencing gender-based violence at some point in their lives.

(3)

Intimate partner violence is the most prevalent form of violence against women, preventing them from playing more active roles in the social, economic, and political development of their communities.

(4)

Sexual violence among adolescents and pre-adolescents is alarmingly high. National surveys in Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Haiti have found that between 28 and 38 percent of girls and between 9 and 18 percent of boys report experiencing sexual violence before reaching 18 years of age.

(5)

Adult male respondents in 6 countries who had experienced violence as children were significantly more likely to report perpetrating intimate partner violence themselves according to the International Men and Gender Equality Survey dataset.

(6)

Gender-based violence harms economies and the workers that fuel them. Despite underreporting, striking statistics document prevalent forms of gender-based violence globally that affect the world of work. Worldwide, women are concentrated in low-wage, insecure jobs in workplaces where they lack bargaining power, protections against gender-based violence, safe and confidential reporting systems, recourse to justice, or access to legal, medical, and psychosocial services.

(7)

Women living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence. Lack of economic opportunities often compels women to use desperate and dangerous means to provide for themselves and their families, risking significant exposure to sexual exploitation and abuse for both women and their children.

(8)

Country studies indicate that the risk of HIV among women who have experienced violence may be up to three times higher than among those who have not experience violence. The World Health Organization found that women who experience intimate partner violence are at more than 50 percent greater risk of HIV infection, and in some instances their risk of HIV infection increases four-fold. Women living with HIV are more likely to experience violence than other women, and fear of violence can prevent women from accessing HIV/AIDS information and receiving treatment and counseling.

(9)

Addressing gender inequality and gender-based violence is essential to reducing HIV risk and increasing access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services for women and men. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) supports significant work in the field to incorporate efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence into existing HIV treatment and prevention programs.

(10)

Prevalence of sexual and physical violence is higher among persons with disabilities, particularly for adolescents and intimate partners with disabilities, and for men and women with intellectual impairments living in institutions. The World Health Organization reports that rates of gender-based violence are between 4 and 10 times greater among persons with disabilities compared to non-disabled persons.

(11)

Displaced, refugee, and stateless women and girls in humanitarian emergencies, conflict settings, and natural disasters face extreme violence and threats, including—

(A)

being forced to exchange sex for food and humanitarian supplies; and

(B)

being at increased risk of rape, sexual exploitation, and abuse.

(12)

Rape and sexual assault against women and girls are used to torture, intimidate, and terrorize communities. Rape and sexual assault are used as tools of war in conflict zones, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Colombia, and South Sudan.

(13)

Child and forced marriage of girls—

(A)

is a harmful practice that deprives girls of their dignity and rights and creates barriers to development for communities and countries;

(B)

is projected to affect more than 140,000,000 girls who will become brides between 2011 and 2020;

(C)

can prematurely end girls’ education, increase vulnerability to gender-based violence, and significantly raise the risk of maternal and infant morbidity or mortality, including the risk of obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS; and

(D)

is perpetuated by poverty, a lack of educational or employment opportunities for girls, a lack of legal policies and enforcement of laws, and religious, cultural, and social factors related to girls’ perceived lack of value, factors which become particularly acute in conflict and disaster settings where fears of sexual violence and overstretched coping mechanisms often drive child and forced marriage.

(14)

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is carried out most often on girls between infancy and 15 years of age and has impacted more than 125,000,000 girls and women who are alive today. FGM/C can cause long-term health problems, including infertility, complications in childbirth, and increased risk of newborn deaths.

(15)

World Bank data shows that gender inequality directly corresponds to increased levels of political and economic instability within states. Gender-based violence impedes women’s meaningful participation in social, political, and economic spheres, which is essential to the stability and democratization of a country. Since women disproportionately experience gender-based violence during conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, they can play a pivotal role in preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflict, and countering extremism.

(16)

Gender-based violence is a contributing factor to human trafficking. Experts in the field have reported that women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence and live in societies that tolerate severe gender discrimination appear to be more vulnerable to being trafficked. Comprehensive efforts to reduce human trafficking must include efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence due to the intertwined relationship of the two crimes.

(17)

Faith-based organizations and faith leaders are key partners in the ongoing efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. When properly engaged and equipped with knowledge and resources, such organizations and leaders can play a significant part in changing behaviors and norms and reducing gender-based violence. Particularly in countries that lack effective legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, such faith-based organizations and faith leaders have the standing and authority to address harmful practices, such as child marriage, intimate partner abuses, and acid throwing.

Statement of policy

It is the policy of the United States—

(1)

to take effective action to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the world as a matter of basic human rights and to promote gender equality, economic growth, and improved public health;

(2)

to systematically integrate and coordinate efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally into United States foreign policy and foreign assistance programs, including peace-building efforts and humanitarian relief and recovery;

(3)

to support and build local capacity in developing countries, including the capacity of governments at all levels, nongovernmental organizations, especially women-led organizations, to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls;

(4)

to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental partners with demonstrated experience in preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, including faith-based organizations and women-led organizations;

(5)

to employ a multisectoral approach to preventing and responding to violence against women and girls internationally, including activities in the economic, education, health, nutrition, legal, and judicial sectors;

(6)

to work at all levels, from the individual to the family, community, local, national, and international levels, to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls around the world;

(7)

to enhance training by United States personnel of professional foreign military and police forces and judicial officials, including specific and thorough instruction on preventing and responding to violence against women and girls around the world;

(8)

to engage men and boys as partners, as an essential element of making sustained reductions in violence against women and girls;

(9)

to include the prevention of child and forced marriage as an important part of United States Government efforts to prevent violence against girls and promote gender equality and global health;

(10)

to require that all United States contractors and grantees establish appropriate policies and take effective measures to prevent violence against women and girls and sexual exploitation and abuse within their workforce;

(11)

to exert sustained international leadership to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, including in bilateral and multilateral fora; and

(12)

to implement a strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally.

United States strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence globally

101.

Global strategy requirement

(a)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 4 years thereafter, the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State appointed pursuant to section 201 (referred to in this title as the Ambassador-at-Large), in consultation with the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the United States Agency for International Development appointed pursuant to section 202 (referred to in this title as the Senior Coordinator), shall—

(1)

develop or update, in consultation with civil society, including service providers, a United States global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, using evidence-based interventions and standards that address the root causes of, and provide comprehensive responses to, violence against women and girls;

(2)

submit the strategy under paragraph (1) to the appropriate congressional committees for comment and review; and

(3)

make the strategy publicly available on the Internet.

(b)

Initial strategy

For the purposes of this section, an existing United States strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls may be deemed to fulfill the initial requirement under subsection (a).

(c)

Collaboration and coordination

In developing the strategy under subsection (a), the Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall consult with—

(1)

the heads of relevant Federal agencies;

(2)

the Senior Policy Operating Group on Trafficking in Persons; and

(3)

representatives of civil society, including nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, multilateral organizations, local and international civil society groups, and local service providers and beneficiaries with demonstrated experience in addressing violence against women and girls or promoting gender equality internationally.

(d)

Use of funds

Amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out the activities under this section shall be subject to all applicable restrictions under Federal law.

102.

Country plans

(a)

Priority country selection

To further the objectives of the strategy developed under section 101, the Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall identify not fewer than 4 eligible low-income and lower-middle income countries that—

(1)

have significant levels of violence against women and girls, including violence within displaced communities;

(2)

have the governmental or nongovernmental organizational capacity to manage and implement gender-based violence prevention and response program activities; and

(3)

to the extent possible, are geographically, ethnically, and culturally diverse from each other.

(b)

Country plans

In each country identified pursuant to subsection (a) the Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall develop comprehensive, multisectoral, and holistic individual country plans designed to address and respond to violence against women and girls that—

(1)

assess and describe the current and potential capacity of the government of each identified country and civil society organizations in each such identified country to address and respond to violence against women and girls;

(2)

identify coordination mechanisms with Federal agencies that—

(A)

have existing programs relevant to the strategy;

(B)

will be involved in new program activities; and

(C)

are engaged in broader United States strategies around development;

(3)

describe the monitoring and evaluation mechanisms established for each identified country, and their intended use in assessing overall prevention and response outcomes;

(4)

project the general levels of resources needed to achieve the stated objectives in each identified country, including an accounting of—

(A)

activities and funding already expended by the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development, other Federal agencies, donor country governments, and multilateral institutions; and

(B)

leveraged private sector resources; and

(5)

include strategies, as appropriate, designed to accommodate the needs of stateless, disabled, internally displaced, refugee, or religious or ethnic minority women and girls.

103.

Report on priority country selection and country plans

Not later than 90 days after priority countries are identified pursuant to section 102, and annually thereafter, the Ambassador-at-Large and the Senior Coordinator shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that—

(1)

details the priority country selection process and the development of specific country plans; and

(2)

includes an overview of—

(A)

all programming and specific activities being undertaken;

(B)

the budget resources requested by each executive agency; and

(C)

the specific activities to be supported by each executive agency under the strategy if such resources are provided.

104.

Rule of construction

Nothing in this title may be construed to authorize any additional appropriations to carry out the purposes or initiatives required under this title.

Oversight and Accountability

201.

Definitions

In this title:

(1)

Agency

The term Agency means the United States Agency for International Development.

(2)

Ambassador

The term Ambassador means the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues appointed by the President pursuant to section 202(a).

(3)

Appropriate congressional committees

The term appropriate congressional committees means—

(A)

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;

(B)

the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;

(C)

the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and

(D)

the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(4)

Gender analysis

The term gender analysis means the examination of the differential impact of policies on different genders.

(5)

Office

The term Office means the Office of Global Women's Issues established by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 202(a).

(6)

Senior coordinator

The term Senior Coordinator means the Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the Agency.

202.

Office of Global Women’s Issues

(a)

Establishment

The Secretary of State shall establish in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of State the Office of Global Women’s Issues. The Office shall be headed by an Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Ambassador shall report directly to the Secretary and shall have the rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large.

(b)

Purpose

In addition to the duties described in subsection (c) and duties determined by the Secretary of State, the Ambassador shall coordinate efforts of the United States Government as directed by the Secretary regarding approaches that promote equality and advance the status of women and girls in United States foreign policy.

(c)

Duties

(1)

In general

The Ambassador—

(A)

in consultation with the Senior Coordinator, shall direct activities, policies, programs, and funding relating to gender equality and the advancement of women and girls internationally, including those intended to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, for all bureaus and offices of the Department of State and in the international programs of all other Federal agencies;

(B)

shall actively promote and advance the integration of gender analysis into the programs, structures, processes, and capacities of bureaus and offices of the Department of State and in the international programs of other Federal agencies;

(C)

shall direct United States Government resources, as appropriate, to respond to needs for promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women in United States Government foreign policies and international programs, including to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally;

(D)

may design, support, and implement activities regarding empowerment of women internationally, including for the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls internationally;

(E)

shall conduct regular consultation with civil society organizations working to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally;

(F)

shall ensure that programs, projects, and activities designed to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally are subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and that there is a uniform set of indicators and standards for such monitoring and evaluation that is used across all Federal agencies;

(G)

shall serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary of State regarding gender equality, women’s empowerment, and violence against women and girls as a foreign policy matter; and

(H)

is authorized to represent the United States in diplomatic and multilateral fora on matters relevant to the status of women and girls, including violence against women and girls internationally.

(2)

Information sharing and transparency

The Office—

(A)

shall be the central repository of data on all United States programs, projects, and activities that relate to prevention and response to violence against women and girls; and

(B)

shall produce a full accounting of United States Government spending on such programs, projects, and activities.

203.

Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

(a)

Establishment

There is established in the Agency the position of Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. The Senior Coordinator shall—

(1)

report to the Administrator of the Agency; and

(2)

conduct the activities of the Administrator under this Act.

(b)

In general

The Senior Coordinator—

(1)

in consultation with the Ambassador, shall direct activities, policies, programs, and funding of the Agency relating to gender equality and women’s empowerment, including those intended to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls;

(2)

shall actively promote and advance the integration of gender analysis into the programs, structures, processes, and capacities of all bureaus and offices of the Agency as dictated by the Agency’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy;

(3)

shall direct Agency resources for gender equality and women’s empowerment, including to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally;

(4)

may design, support, and implement activities led by the Agency regarding gender equality and women’s empowerment, including for the prevention and response to violence against women and girls internationally;

(5)

shall conduct regular consultation with civil society organizations working to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls internationally;

(6)

shall serve as the principal advisor to the Administrator regarding gender equality, women’s empowerment, and violence against women and girls; and

(7)

shall track and analyze monitoring and evaluation data and findings on international prevention and response programs of the Agency, consistent with Agency-wide monitoring and evaluation activities, to assist in the preparation of the comprehensive strategy developed under section 101(a).

204.

Briefing

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Ambassador and the Senior Coordinator shall provide, to the appropriate congressional committees—

(1)

a briefing on international violence against women and girls prevention and response strategies, programming, and associated outcomes; and

(2)

an assessment of human and financial resources necessary to fulfill the purposes and duties under this Act.