Biden Introduces Bill to Protect Women and Children in Areas Hit by War and Disaster

Biden Introduces Bill to Protect Women and Children in Areas Hit by War and Disaster

In an effort to protect women and children displaced by war and disaster, U.S. Senators Joe Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) today introduced The Protection of Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005. This bill will help provide greater safety and security to millions of vulnerable people affected by war and natural disasters. It will help ease suffering in places like the Darfur region of Sudan, where horrible genocide is taking place, and in south east Asia where a devastating Tsunami struck in December.

"War and natural disasters have a disproportionate impact on women and children. Of the estimated 12 million refugees around the world, 80 percent of them are women and children," said Senator Biden, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. "Too many of these refugees are being twice victimized: once by the disaster that forces them to flea their home and then again by unscrupulous people at refugee camps where rather than being protected, they are often brutalized. This legislation will help ensure that more is done to protect the most vulnerable people on earth."

A recent report by a United Nations investigatory team discovered that some U.N. peacekeepers deployed to protect civilians from ethnic violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were sexually exploiting girls as young as 13 years old. The UN report stated: "Interviews with Congolese women and girls confirmed that sexual contact with peacekeepers occurred with regularity, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money... Many of the contacts involved girls under the age of 18."

"These incidents, as well as allegations of sexual exploitation by camp residents and humanitarian workers in refugee camps in west Africa and Nepal that came to light in 2002, are terrible, real life reminders of the sad fact that women and children remain vulnerable even in the very places they flee for safety," said Biden.

The Protection of Vulnerable Populations During Humanitarian Emergencies Act of 2005 seeks to address these problems by enhancing the U.S. government's ability to ensure that vulnerable populations are protected before, during, and after a complex humanitarian emergency. The bill urges the Secretary of State to cut off military assistance to countries who do not investigate allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by their troops who are serving as UN peacekeepers. It also prohibits U.S. funding of humanitarian organizations that have not pledged to impose a zero tolerance policy for exploitation of women and children by aid workers.

The bill also expresses the Sense of Congress that the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations should improve its mechanism to prevent and respond to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers.

"No piece of legislation can cure all the ills that natural disaster, war and displacement create for women and children. But my bill will provide some much needed relief for those who are entirely reliant - through no fault of their own - on the assistance and goodwill of the international community," concluded Biden. "We as a nation, and the international community as a whole, need to make protecting vulnerable people struck by war and disaster an urgent priority."

Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) is introducing companion legislation in the House.

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