Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act
Latest action · Feb 23, 2016 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 23, 2016
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act
This bill amends the federal criminal code to establish statutory rights for sexual assault survivors, including the right to: (1) receive a forensic medical examination at no cost, (2) have a sexual assault evidence collection kit (i.e., rape kit) preserved for the maximum applicable statute of limitations, (3) receive written notification prior to destruction or disposal of a rape kit, and (4) be informed of the rights and policies under this section.
Additionally, it makes statutory crime victims' rights applicable to sexual assault survivors.
The bill amends the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to include information about sexual assault services, programs, and providers in the description of services provided to victims.
The bill amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to authorize the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Office of Justice Programs to make grants to states to develop sexual assault survivors' rights and policies and to disseminate written notice of such rights and policies to medical centers, hospitals, forensic examiners, sexual assault service providers, law enforcement agencies, and other state entities.
DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services must establish a joint working group to develop, coordinate, and disseminate best practices regarding the care and treatment of sexual assault survivors and the preservation of forensic evidence.
It expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) DOJ should discourage prosecutions of sexual assault survivors for minor offenses (e.g., underage alcohol consumption), particularly if the evidence of such offense is discovered through a medical forensic examination, and (2) survivors should be informed that they will not be prosecuted for minor offenses discovered through a medical forensic examination.
For purposes of this bill, the term "sexual assault survivor" includes a deceased victim of sexual assault.
Cosponsors 10
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 23, 2016 to May 11, 2016, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | Feb 23, 2016 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Feb 23, 2016 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Mar 1, 2016 | |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Apr 14, 2016 | |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Apr 20, 2016 | |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Apr 21, 2016 | |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Apr 21, 2016 | |
| D-MN | Al Franken | Apr 28, 2016 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Boxer | Apr 28, 2016 | |
| R-NH | Kelly Ayotte | May 11, 2016 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 23, 2016Introduced in Senate
- Feb 23, 2016Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 5571 | Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act | Related bill | Jun 30, 2016 |
| HR 5578 | Survivors' Bill of Rights Act of 2016 | Related bill | Oct 7, 2016 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 23, 2016Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.