I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3185 
To promote the economic security and safety of victims of domestic and 
sexual violence, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 30, 2005 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. MORAN of 
Virginia, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. 
WATSON, Mr. HONDA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. UDALL 
of New Mexico, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of 
California, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of 
California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. LEE, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. MILLENDER- 
MCDONALD, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. SERRANO, and Ms. BERK-
LEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on 
Ways and Means and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To promote the economic security and safety of victims of 
domestic and sexual violence, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Security and Financial Empowerment Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
TITLE I—ENTITLEMENT TO EMERGENCY LEAVE FOR 
ADDRESSING DOMESTIC OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE 
Sec. 101. Purposes. 
Sec. 102. Entitlement to emergency leave for addressing domestic or sexual vio-
lence. 
Sec. 103. Existing leave usable for addressing domestic or sexual violence. 
Sec. 104. Emergency benefits. 
Sec. 105. Effect on other laws and employment benefits. 
Sec. 106. Conforming amendment. 
Sec. 107. Effective date. 
TITLE II—ENTITLEMENT TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 
FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, 
SEXUAL ASSAULT, OR STALKING 
Sec. 201. Purposes. 
Sec. 202. Unemployment compensation and training provisions. 
TITLE III—VICTIMS’ EMPLOYMENT SUSTAINABILITY 
Sec. 301. Short title. 
Sec. 302. Purposes. 
Sec. 303. Prohibited discriminatory acts. 
Sec. 304. Enforcement. 
Sec. 305. Attorney’s fees. 
TITLE IV—VICTIMS OF ABUSE INSURANCE PROTECTION 
Sec. 401. Short title. 
Sec. 402. Definitions. 
Sec. 403. Discriminatory acts prohibited. 
Sec. 404. Insurance protocols for subjects of abuse. 
Sec. 405. Reasons for adverse actions. 
Sec. 406. Life insurance. 
Sec. 407. Subrogation without consent prohibited. 
Sec. 408. Enforcement. 
Sec. 409. Effective date. 
TITLE V—NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE ON DOMESTIC AND 
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE GRANT
Sec. 501. National clearinghouse on domestic and sexual violence in the work-
place grant. 
TITLE VI—SEVERABILITY 
Sec. 601. Severability. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Violence against women has been reported 
to be the leading cause of physical injury to women. 
Such violence has a devastating impact on women’s 
physical and emotional health, financial security, 
and ability to maintain their jobs, and thus impacts 
interstate commerce. 
(2) Studies indicate that one of the best predic-
tors of whether a victim will be able to stay away 
from her abuser is her degree of economic independ-
ence. However, domestic violence, dating violence, 
sexual assault and stalking often negatively impacts 
victims’ ability to maintain employment. 
(3) The Bureau of National Affairs has esti-
mated that domestic violence costs United States 
employers 
between 
$3,000,000,000 
and 
$5,000,000,000 annually in lost time and produc-
tivity, while other reports have estimated the cost at 
between $5,800,000,000 and $13,000,000,000 annu-
ally.
(4) United States medical costs for domestic vi-
olence have been estimated to be $31,000,000,000 
per year. 
(5) Abusers frequently seek to exert financial 
control over their partners by actively interfering 
with their ability to work, including preventing their 
partners from going to work, harassing their part-
ners at work, limiting the access of their partners to 
cash or transportation, and sabotaging the child care 
arrangements of their partners. 
(6) Domestic violence also affects perpetrators’ 
ability to work. A recent study found that 48 per-
cent of abusers reported having difficulty concen-
trating at work and 42 percent reported being late 
to work. Seventy-eight percent reported using their 
own company’s resources in connection with the abu-
sive relationship. 
(7) Studies indicate that between 35 and 56 
percent of employed battered women surveyed were 
harassed at work by their abusive partners. 
(8) Victims of domestic violence also frequently 
miss work due to injuries, court dates, and safety 
concerns requiring legal protections. Victims of do-
mestic violence lose 8,000,000 days of paid work
each year—the equivalent of over 32,000 full-time 
jobs and 5,600,000 days of household productivity. 
(9) According to a 1998 report of the General 
Accounting Office, between 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 of domestic 
violence victims surveyed in 3 studies reported that 
they lost a job due, at least in part, to domestic vio-
lence. 
(10) Women who have experienced domestic vi-
olence or dating violence are more likely than other 
women to be unemployed, to suffer from health 
problems that can affect employability and job per-
formance, to report lower personal income, and to 
rely on welfare. 
(11) The prevalence of sexual assault and other 
violence against women at work is also dramatic. 
About 36,500 individuals, 80 percent of whom are 
women, were raped or sexually assaulted in the 
workplace each year from 1993 through 1999. Half 
of all female victims of violent workplace crimes 
know their attackers. Nearly 1 out of 10 violent 
workplace incidents are committed by partners or 
spouses. Women who work for State and local gov-
ernments suffer a higher incidence of workplace as-
saults, including rapes, than women who work in the 
private sector.
(12) Sexual assault, whether occurring in or out 
of the workplace, can impair an employee’s work 
performance, require time away from work, and un-
dermine the employee’s ability to maintain a job. Al-
most 50 percent of sexual assault survivors lose their 
jobs or are forced to quit in the aftermath of the as-
saults. 
(13) More than 35 percent of stalking victims 
report losing time from work due to the stalking and 
7 percent never return to work. 
(14) Ninety-four percent of corporate security 
and safety directors at companies nationwide rank 
domestic violence as a high security concern. 
(15) Already, 27 States and the District of Co-
lumbia have laws that explicitly provide unemploy-
ment insurance to domestic violence victims in cer-
tain circumstances. However, these laws vary in the 
extent to which they effectively address the special 
circumstances of victims of domestic violence and 
very few of the laws explicitly cover victims of sexual 
assault or stalking. Moreover— 
(A) victims who do not receive unemploy-
ment insurance benefits often lack the economic 
independence they need to escape violent rela-
tionships;
(B) victims who lose their jobs because of 
domestic or sexual violence have lost their jobs 
through no fault of their own, and thus are the 
intended beneficiaries of unemployment com-
pensation benefits; 
(C) under many State unemployment com-
pensation laws, victims of domestic or sexual vi-
olence who separate from their jobs because of 
the violence may not be eligible to receive bene-
fits because of the circumstances of their sepa-
ration; 
(D) victims who must leave a job to relo-
cate to a safe location or to take other steps to 
secure their safety may be barred from unem-
ployment benefits on the grounds that they left 
a job voluntarily and without good cause; and 
(E) victims who have qualified for benefits 
may not be able to satisfy requirements con-
cerning availability for work or the suitability of 
potential work because of their ongoing safety 
needs. 
(16) Five States provide victims of domestic or 
sexual violence with leave from work to go to court, 
to the doctor, or to take other steps to address the 
violence in their lives, and several other States pro-
vide time off to victims of crimes, which can include 
victims of domestic and sexual violence, to attend 
court proceedings. However, many States have no 
employment-protected leave provisions that allow vic-
tims of domestic or sexual violence to take the time 
off they need to address the violence. 
(17) Domestic and sexual violence victims have 
been subjected to discrimination by private and 
State employers, including discrimination motivated 
by sex and stereotypic notions about women. 
(18) Domestic violence victims and third parties 
who help them have been subjected to discriminatory 
practices by health, life, disability, and property and 
casualty insurers, and employers who self-insure em-
ployee benefits who have denied or canceled cov-
erage, rejected claims, and raised rates based on do-
mestic violence. Although some State legislatures 
have tried to address these problems, the scope of 
protection afforded by the laws adopted varies from 
State to State, with many failing to address the 
problem comprehensively. Moreover, Federal law 
prevents States from protecting the almost 40 per-
cent of employees whose employers self-insure em-
ployee benefits. 
(19) Existing Federal law does not explicitly—
(A) authorize victims of domestic violence, 
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking to 
take leave from work to seek legal assistance 
and redress, counseling, or assistance with safe-
ty planning activities; 
(B) address the eligibility of victims of do-
mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 
or stalking for unemployment compensation; 
(C) prohibit employment discrimination 
against actual or perceived victims of domestic 
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 
stalking; or 
(D) prohibit insurers and employers who 
self-insure employee benefits from discrimi-
nating against domestic violence victims and 
those who help them in determining eligibility, 
rates charged, and standards for payment of 
claims; nor does it prohibit insurers from disclo-
sure of information about abuse and the vic-
tim’s location through insurance databases and 
other means. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, except as otherwise expressly provided: 
(1) COMMERCE.—The terms ‘‘commerce’’ and 
‘‘industry or activity affecting commerce’’ have the
meanings given the terms in section 101 of the 
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 
2611). 
(2) COURSE OF CONDUCT.—The term ‘‘course 
of conduct’’ means a course of repeatedly maintain-
ing a visual or physical proximity to a person or con-
veying verbal or written threats, including threats 
conveyed through electronic communications, or 
threats implied by conduct. 
(3) DATING VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘dating vio-
lence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
826 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 
(20 U.S.C. 1152). 
(4) DOMESTIC
OR
SEXUAL
VIOLENCE.—The 
term ‘‘domestic or sexual violence’’ means domestic 
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. 
(5) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 
violence’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
826 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 
(20 U.S.C. 1152). 
(6) DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
COALITION.—The 
term ‘‘domestic violence coalition’’ means a non-
profit, nongovernmental membership organization 
that—
(A) consists of the entities carrying out a 
majority of the domestic violence programs car-
ried out within a State; 
(B) collaborates and coordinates activities 
with Federal, State, and local entities to further 
the purposes of domestic violence intervention 
and prevention; and 
(C) among other activities, provides train-
ing and technical assistance to entities carrying 
out domestic violence programs within a State, 
territory, political subdivision, or area under 
Federal authority. 
(7) ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.—The term 
‘‘electronic communications’’ includes communica-
tions via telephone, mobile phone, computer, email, 
video recorder, fax machine, telex, or pager. 
(8) EMPLOY; STATE.—The terms ‘‘employ’’ and 
‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec-
tion 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203). 
(9) EMPLOYEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employee’’ 
means any person employed by an employer. In 
the case of an individual employed by a public 
agency, such term means an individual em-
ployed as described in section 3(e) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
203(e)). 
(B) BASIS.—The term includes a person 
employed as described in subparagraph (A) on 
a full- or part-time basis, for a fixed time pe-
riod, on a temporary basis, pursuant to a detail, 
as an independent contractor, or as a partici-
pant in a work assignment as a condition of re-
ceipt of Federal or State income-based public 
assistance. 
(10) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’— 
(A) means any person engaged in com-
merce or in any industry or activity affecting 
commerce who employs 15 or more individuals; 
and 
(B) includes any person acting directly or 
indirectly in the interest of an employer in rela-
tion to an employee, and includes a public agen-
cy, but does not include any labor organization 
(other than when acting as an employer) or 
anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent 
of such labor organization. 
(11) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em-
ployment benefits’’ means all benefits provided or
made available to employees by an employer, includ-
ing group life insurance, health insurance, disability 
insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational bene-
fits, and pensions, regardless of whether such bene-
fits are provided by a practice or written policy of 
an employer or through an ‘‘employee benefit plan’’, 
as defined in section 3(3) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1002(3)). 
(12) FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD MEMBER.—The 
term ‘‘family or household member’’ means a non- 
abusive spouse, former spouse, parent, son or daugh-
ter, or person residing or formerly residing in the 
same dwelling unit. 
(13) PARENT; SON OR DAUGHTER.—The terms 
‘‘parent’’ and ‘‘son or daughter’’ have the meanings 
given the terms in section 101 of the Family and 
Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2611). 
(14) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 3 of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 
(15) PUBLIC AGENCY.—The term ‘‘public agen-
cy’’ has the meaning given the term in section 3 of 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
203).
(16) PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘public 
assistance’’ includes cash, food stamps, medical as-
sistance, housing assistance, and other benefits pro-
vided on the basis of income by a public agency. 
(17) REDUCED LEAVE SCHEDULE.—The term 
‘‘reduced leave schedule’’ means a leave schedule 
that reduces the usual number of hours per work-
week, or hours per workday, of an employee. 
(18) REPEATEDLY.—The term ‘‘repeatedly’’ 
means on 2 or more occasions. 
(19) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Labor. 
(20) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as-
sault’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
826 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 
(20 U.S.C. 1152). 
(21) SEXUAL ASSAULT COALITION.—The term 
‘‘sexual assault coalition’’ means a nonprofit, non-
governmental membership organization that— 
(A) consists of the entities carrying out a 
majority of the sexual assault programs carried 
out within a State; 
(B) collaborates and coordinates activities 
with Federal, State, and local entities to further
the purposes of sexual assault intervention and 
prevention; and 
(C) among other activities, provides train-
ing and technical assistance to entities carrying 
out sexual assault programs within a State, ter-
ritory, political subdivision, or area under Fed-
eral authority. 
(22) STALKING.—The term ‘‘stalking’’ means 
engaging in a course of conduct directed at a spe-
cific person that would cause a reasonable person to 
suffer substantial emotional distress or to fear bodily 
injury, sexual assault, or death to the person, or the 
person’s spouse, parent, or son or daughter, or any 
other person who regularly resides in the person’s 
household, if the conduct causes the specific person 
to have such distress or fear. 
(23) VICTIM
SERVICES
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘victim services organization’’ means a non-
profit, nongovernmental organization that provides 
assistance to victims of domestic or sexual violence 
or to advocates for such victims, including a rape 
crisis center, an organization carrying out a domes-
tic violence program, an organization operating a 
shelter or providing counseling services, or an orga-
nization providing assistance through the legal proc-
ess. 
TITLE 
I—ENTITLEMENT 
TO 
EMERGENCY LEAVE FOR AD-
DRESSING DOMESTIC OR SEX-
UAL VIOLENCE 
SEC. 101. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this title are, pursuant to the affirm-
ative power of Congress to enact legislation under the por-
tions of section 8 of article I of the Constitution relating 
to providing for the general welfare and to regulation of 
commerce among the several States, and under section 5 
of the 14th amendment to the Constitution— 
(1) to promote the national interest in reducing 
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 
and stalking by enabling victims of domestic or sex-
ual violence to maintain the financial independence 
necessary to leave abusive situations, achieve safety, 
and minimize the physical and emotional injuries 
from domestic or sexual violence, and to reduce the 
devastating economic consequences of domestic or 
sexual violence to employers and employees; 
(2) to promote the national interest in ensuring 
that victims of domestic or sexual violence can re-
cover from and cope with the effects of such vio-
lence, and participate in criminal and civil justice 
processes, without fear of adverse economic con-
sequences from their employers; 
(3) to ensure that victims of domestic or sexual 
violence can recover from and cope with the effects 
of such violence, and participate in criminal and civil 
justice processes, without fear of adverse economic 
consequences with respect to public benefits; 
(4) to promote the purposes of the 14th amend-
ment by preventing sex-based discrimination and 
discrimination against victims of domestic and sex-
ual violence in employment leave, addressing the 
failure of existing laws to protect the employment 
rights of victims of domestic or sexual violence, by 
protecting their civil and economic rights, and by 
furthering the equal opportunity of women for eco-
nomic self-sufficiency and employment free from dis-
crimination; 
(5) to minimize the negative impact on inter-
state commerce from dislocations of employees and 
harmful effects on productivity, employment, health 
care costs, and employer costs, caused by domestic 
or sexual violence, including intentional efforts to 
frustrate women’s ability to participate in employ-
ment and interstate commerce;
(6) to further the goals of human rights and 
dignity reflected in instruments such as the United 
Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, and the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights; and 
(7) to accomplish the purposes described in 
paragraphs (1) through (6) by— 
(A) entitling employed victims of domestic 
or sexual violence to take leave to seek medical 
help, legal assistance, counseling, safety plan-
ning, and other assistance without penalty from 
their employers; and 
(B) prohibiting employers from discrimi-
nating against actual or perceived victims of do-
mestic or sexual violence, in a manner that ac-
commodates the legitimate interests of employ-
ers and protects the safety of all persons in the 
workplace. 
SEC. 102. ENTITLEMENT TO EMERGENCY LEAVE FOR AD-
DRESSING DOMESTIC OR SEXUAL VIOLENCE. 
(a) LEAVE REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) BASIS.—An employee who is a victim of do-
mestic or sexual violence may take leave from work 
to address domestic or sexual violence, by—