Murray, Democrats Introduce Critical Legislation to Improve and Expand Health Care Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault

Press Release

Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, along with Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), introduced the Survivors' Access to Supportive Care Act (SASCA), legislation to provide guidance and support to states and to hospitals providing sexual assault examination services and treatment to survivors. Because data on the availability of sexual assault nurse examinations (SANE) and sexual assault forensic examinations (SAFE) is severely limited, SASCA would provide for state-level reviews of current practices in order to better understand care, develop best practices and guidelines, and provide public awareness of sexual assault examinations. SASCA also requires hospitals to report on SAFE/SANE training and access to medical forensic examinations.

SASCA would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a national training and continuing education pilot program to expand access to health care for survivors of sexual assault by developing federal standards around examinations and treatment. It would also establish a pilot grant program to expand medical forensic exam training and services to new providers to increase access, and create a national sexual assault taskforce to better understand sexual assault healthcare services and treatment and address survivors' needs.

"When survivors of sexual assault seek medical care they should be offered the best information, services, and support available," said Senator Murray. "Unfortunately, many states and hospitals are failing to provide survivors with access to quality care that is critical to their recovery and to holding perpetrators accountable. I'm proud to be introducing legislation that would help develop standards of health care and training in hospitals and medical settings nationwide, and I'm committed to continuing to push for better access and higher quality care for survivors of sexual assault in Washington state and across the country."

Back in 2015, Senator Murray and colleagues requested a GAO Report investigating the availability of trained examiners on a national level. This report was officially released in March, and identified major flaws in survivor access to sexual assault examinations services. Specifically, the report showed a disturbing lack, and in some cases a complete absence, of information and data on the number of sexual assault examiners in most states. Additionally, the report found no federal standards regarding access to and qualifications of trained forensic medical examiners. In response, the Senators sent a letter to Secretary Burwell and Attorney General Lynch, asking for a national taskforce to address the findings of this GAO Report and requesting immediate action addressing these service gaps for survivors of sexual assault.

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