114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5578 

AN ACT 

To establish certain rights for sexual assault survivors, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 5578 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Survivors’ Bill of 

3 Rights Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ RIGHTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of title 18, United States 

6 Code, is amended by adding after chapter 237 the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 238—SEXUAL ASSAULT 

9 SURVIVORS’ RIGHTS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3772. Sexual assault survivors’ rights. 

10 ‘‘§ 3772. Sexual assault survivors’ rights 

11 ‘‘(a) RIGHTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS.—In 

12 addition to those rights provided in section 3771, a sexual 

13 assault survivor has the following rights: 

14 ‘‘(1) The right not to be prevented from, or 

15 charged for, receiving a medical forensic examina16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(2) The right to— 

18 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (3), have a sex19 ual assault evidence collection kit or its pro20 bative contents preserved, without charge, for 

21 the duration of the maximum applicable statute 

22 of limitations or 20 years, whichever is shorter; 

23 ‘‘(B) be informed of any result of a sexual 

24 assault evidence collection kit, including a DNA 
3 

•HR 5578 EH

1 profile match, toxicology report, or other infor2 mation collected as part of a medical forensic 

3 examination, if such disclosure would not im4 pede or compromise an ongoing investigation; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(C) be informed in writing of policies gov7 erning the collection and preservation of a sex8 ual assault evidence collection kit. 

9 ‘‘(3) The right to— 

10 ‘‘(A) upon written request, receive written 

11 notification from the appropriate official with 

12 custody not later than 60 days before the date 

13 of the intended destruction or disposal; and 

14 ‘‘(B) upon written request, be granted fur15 ther preservation of the kit or its probative con16 tents. 

17 ‘‘(4) The right to be informed of the rights 

18 under this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsections (b) through (f) of 

20 section 3771 shall apply to sexual assault survivors. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.—In this sec22 tion, the term ‘sexual assault’ means any nonconsensual 

23 sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, in24 cluding when the victim lacks capacity to consent. 
4 

•HR 5578 EH

1 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—This section, other than paragraphs 

2 (2)(A) and (3)(B) of subsection (a), shall be carried out 

3 using funds made available under section 1402(d)(3)(A)(i) 

4 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

5 10601(d)(3)(A)(i)). No additional funds are authorized to 

6 be appropriated to carry out this section.’’. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

8 The table of chapters for part II of title 18, United States 

9 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘238. Sexual assault survivors’ rights ....................................... 3772’’. 

10 (c) AMENDMENT TO VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF

11 1984.—Section 1402(d)(3)(A)(i) of the Victims of Crime 

12 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601(d)(3)(A)(i)) is amended by 

13 inserting after ‘‘section 3771’’ the following: ‘‘or section 

14 3772, as it relates to direct services,’’. 

15 SEC. 3. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ NOTIFICATION 

16 GRANTS. 

17 The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 is amended by 

18 adding after section 1404E (42 U.S.C. 10603e) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1404F. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ NOTIFICATION 

21 GRANTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make 

23 grants as provided in section 1404(c)(1)(A) to States to 

24 develop and disseminate to entities described in subsection 
5 

•HR 5578 EH

1 (c)(1) of this section written notice of applicable rights 

2 and policies for sexual assault survivors. 

3 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS.—Each recipient of 

4 a grant awarded under subsection (a) shall make its best 

5 effort to ensure that each entity described in subsection 

6 (c)(1) provides individuals who identify as a survivor of 

7 a sexual assault, and who consent to receiving such infor8 mation, with written notice of applicable rights and poli9 cies regarding— 

10 ‘‘(1) the right not to be charged fees for or oth11 erwise prevented from pursuing a sexual assault evi12 dence collection kit; 

13 ‘‘(2) the right to have a sexual assault medical 

14 forensic examination regardless of whether the sur15 vivor reports to or cooperates with law enforcement; 

16 ‘‘(3) the availability of a sexual assault advo17 cate; 

18 ‘‘(4) the availability of protective orders and 

19 policies related to their enforcement; 

20 ‘‘(5) policies regarding the storage, preserva21 tion, and disposal of sexual assault evidence collec22 tion kits; 

23 ‘‘(6) the process, if any, to request preservation 

24 of sexual assault evidence collection kits or the pro25 bative evidence from such kits; and 
6 

•HR 5578 EH

1 ‘‘(7) the availability of victim compensation and 

2 restitution. 

3 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF WRITTEN NOTICE.—Each 

4 recipient of a grant awarded under subsection (a) shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) provide the written notice described in sub6 section (b) to medical centers, hospitals, forensic ex7 aminers, sexual assault service providers, State and 

8 local law enforcement agencies, and any other State 

9 agency or department reasonably likely to serve sex10 ual assault survivors; and 

11 ‘‘(2) make the written notice described in sub12 section (b) publicly available on the Internet website 

13 of the attorney general of the State. 

14 ‘‘(d) PROVISION TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE.—The 

15 Attorney General may provide such technical assistance 

16 and guidance as necessary to help recipients meet the re17 quirements of this section. 

18 ‘‘(e) INTEGRATION OF SYSTEMS.—Any system devel19 oped and implemented under this section may be inte20 grated with an existing case management system operated 

21 by the recipient of the grant if the system meets the re22 quirements listed in this section.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in con25 sultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
7 

•HR 5578 EH

1 ices (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall 

2 establish a joint working group (referred to in this section 

3 as the ‘‘Working Group’’) to develop, coordinate, and dis4 seminate best practices regarding the care and treatment 

5 of sexual assault survivors and the preservation of forensic 

6 evidence. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—The 

8 Working Group shall consult with— 

9 (1) stakeholders in law enforcement, prosecu10 tion, forensic laboratory, counseling, forensic exam11 iner, medical facility, and medical provider commu12 nities; and 

13 (2) representatives of not less than 3 entities 

14 with demonstrated expertise in sexual assault pre15 vention, sexual assault advocacy, or representation 

16 of sexual assault victims, of which not less than 1 

17 representative shall be a sexual assault victim. 

18 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Working Group shall be 

19 composed of governmental or nongovernmental agency 

20 heads at the discretion of the Attorney General, in con21 sultation with the Secretary. 

22 (d) DUTIES.—The Working Group shall— 

23 (1) develop recommendations for improving the 

24 coordination of the dissemination and implementa25 tion of best practices and protocols regarding the 
8 

•HR 5578 EH

1 care and treatment of sexual assault survivors and 

2 the preservation of evidence to hospital administra3 tors, physicians, forensic examiners, and other med4 ical associations and leaders in the medical commu5 nity; 

6 (2) encourage, where appropriate, the adoption 

7 and implementation of best practices and protocols 

8 regarding the care and treatment of sexual assault 

9 survivors and the preservation of evidence among 

10 hospital administrators, physicians, forensic exam11 iners, and other medical associations and leaders in 

12 the medical community; 

13 (3) develop recommendations to promote the co14 ordination of the dissemination and implementation 

15 of best practices regarding the care and treatment of 

16 sexual assault survivors and the preservation of evi17 dence to State attorneys general, United States at18 torneys, heads of State law enforcement agencies, fo19 rensic laboratory directors and managers, and other 

20 leaders in the law enforcement community; 

21 (4) develop and implement, where practicable, 

22 incentives to encourage the adoption or implementa23 tion of best practices regarding the care and treat24 ment of sexual assault survivors and the preserva25 tion of evidence among State attorneys general, 
9 

•HR 5578 EH

1 United States attorneys, heads of State law enforce2 ment agencies, forensic laboratory directors and 

3 managers, and other leaders in the law enforcement 

4 community; 

5 (5) collect feedback from stakeholders, practi6 tioners, and leadership throughout the Federal and 

7 State law enforcement, victim services, forensic 

8 science practitioner, and health care communities to 

9 inform development of future best practices or clin10 ical guidelines regarding the care and treatment of 

11 sexual assault survivors; and 

12 (6) perform other activities, such as activities 

13 relating to development, dissemination, outreach, en14 gagement, or training associated with advancing vic15 tim-centered care for sexual assault survivors. 

16 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall submit 

18 to the Attorney General, the Secretary, and Congress a 

19 report containing the findings and recommended actions 

20 of the Working Group. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 6, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5578 

AN ACT 

To establish certain rights for sexual assault 

survivors, and for other purposes.