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