Mayor Muriel Bowser today announced a proposal to expand the rights afforded under D.C. law to survivors of sexual assault.

The changes include requiring prosecutors to give victims a reason if they’re not going to prosecute the case, expanding the law’s coverage to sexual assault victims between 12 and 17, providing a victim advocate during interviews with prosecutors, making it illegal to remove a person’s clothing without consent, and more.

These protections and clarifications would add to the Sexual Assault Victims’ Rights Amendment Act passed by the D.C. Council in 2014, following a scathing 2013 Human Rights Watch report that found the Metropolitan Police Department was mishandling sexual assault cases.

“Reporting to the police was far more traumatizing than the rape itself,” one rape survivor said in the report. An independent review commissioned by the Council said the initial report made faulty assumptions and used incomplete data, though “in some cases, the investigation was admittedly inadequate.”

Still, in response to complaints, the 2014 bill outlined that victims have the right to have an advocate present during hospital and police interviews, the right to information about rape kits and toxicology reports, and notification when MPD officers contact suspects.

However, the bill did not cover the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes sexual assaults and other felonies in the District. A report released in late 2016 by an independent consultant hired to review the legislation’s implementation described a “lack of transparency and communication” provided by the USAO to survivors.

Some of the recommendations in that report, like providing independent advocates during prosecutorial advocates and requiring that victims receive an explanation if their cases are not getting prosecuted, made their way into the Sexual Assault Victims’ Rights Amendment Act of 2017. The new legislation also draws upon advice from the SAVRAA Task Force.

In a press conference today, Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants Director Michelle Garcia said that the USAO already provides survivors with a reason if the office declines to prosecute their cases, and this legislation would “be codifying a practice that, in our understanding, USAO is already doing.” USAO of D.C. spokesperson William Miller confirmed that his office informed victims why their cases wouldn’t move forward.

But that hasn’t always been the case. During a council hearing in March 2016, survivor Edurné López said that she never received a reason for why the office declined to prosecute her 2012 rape. “My experience with the U.S. Attorney’s Office can only be described as one of torment,” she said.

Miller says that the USAO has “always made efforts to communicate this information to victims. However, since January of 2016, we have taken additional steps to improve our efforts to have communication with every victim, and to increase the quality of that communication.”

According to Miller, the USAO “continues to review the proposed legislation and will provide its recommendations to the Mayor and Council in the near future.”

Bowser announced the new legislation today, though it was introduced to the D.C. Council by Chair Phil Mendelson earlier this month and referred to the Judiciary and Safety Committee.

The mayor said she wanted to introduce the bill in January or February, but waited until now “to get law enforcement on board to advance this bill.” Interim D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, her nominee for the permanent role, stood near her at the press conference.

Judiciary and Safety Committee Chair Charles Allen says that he is “looking forward to working on this bill to update and expand protections for survivors and victims of sexual violence.”

Allen’s spokesperson, Erik Salmi, says that the committee has not scheduled a hearing yet but plans to do so before the summer recess.

So far in 2017, there have been 73 sex abuse cases reported to MPD, according to police data. However, about two-thirds of sexual assaults go unreported, the Rape Abuse Incest National Network says.

B22 0222 Introduction by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd

Updated with further comment from William Miller about USAO communication with sexual assault victims, and information about an independent review commissioned by the Council.