38 U.S.C. § 533 — Anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy

(a) Establishment. The Secretary, working through the VA's Office of Assault and Prevention, must create one policy to end harassment and sexual assault (including sexual harassment and gender-based harassment) across the whole Department. The policy must include: (A) A process for VA employees and contractors to respond to reports of harassment or sexual assault committed by a "non-Department individual" (someone who isn't a VA employee or contractor) against another non-Department individual, inside a VA facility — including how the Department holds people accountable or disciplines them. (B) A process for employees and contractors to respond to reports of harassment or sexual assault of a non-Department individual inside a VA facility. (C) A way for any non-Department individual to report this kind of harassment or assault, including a confidential reporting option, and for the Secretary to respond. (D) Clear ways for non-Department individuals to find out who to report to and how. (E) Clear ways for employees and contractors to find out who to report to, how, and how to point non-Department individuals toward reporting. (F) A mandatory reporting requirement: any employee or contractor who witnesses this kind of harassment or assault in a facility must report it — even if the person affected doesn't want to report it themselves. (G) A list of possible actions, including discipline, against employees or contractors who witness this harassment or assault but fail to report it. (H) Mandatory training, at least once a year, for employees and contractors on how to report and address this harassment and assault, including training on how bystanders can step in. (I) Once a year or more often, the Department must mail or email the policy and anti-harassment and anti-sexual-assault educational materials to everyone who gets a VA benefit. (J) Anti-harassment and anti-sexual-assault messages must be prominently displayed in every VA facility, including how non-Department individuals can report and who the facility's points of contact are. (K) VA websites — including its main benefits and health care websites — must post banners about this harassment and assault. (b) Points of Contact. The Secretary must name at least one point of contact (besides law enforcement) to take these harassment and assault reports: (1) one at each VA facility, including Vet Centers; (2) one employed in each Veterans Integrated Service Network, for facilities in that network; (3) one employed at each regional benefits office; (4) one employed at each National Cemetery Administration location; and (5) one at VA Central Office, to track these reports across the whole Department, broken down by facility. (c) Accountability. (1) The Secretary must make each facility and each Veterans Integrated Service Network director responsible for addressing harassment and sexual assault there. (2) That policy must include (A) a remediation plan for any facility with five or more incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or both in one fiscal year, and (B) taking appropriate action under chapter 7 or subchapter V of chapter 74 of this title (the VA's disciplinary rules). (d) Data. When veterans check in at VA medical facilities, the intake process must include a survey asking (1) whether the veteran feels safe there and whether anything happened that affects that feeling, and (2) whether the veteran wants the Department to follow up with them about safety. (e) Working Group. (1) The Secretary must set up a working group to help carry out this section's policies. (2) It must include representatives from (A) veterans service organizations, (B) state, local, and tribal veterans agencies, and (C) other people the Secretary thinks fit. (3) The group must develop, and the Secretary must carry out, (A) an action plan for local changes to cut down harassment and sexual assault, (B) standard print and online materials for veterans groups and others to use, and (C) bystander intervention training for veterans. (4) The working group does not have to follow the Federal Advisory Committee Act. (f) Annual Reports. (1) The Secretary must send Congress's Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees a yearly report on this harassment and assault in VA facilities. (2) Each report must include: (A) results from harassment and sexual assault programs, including the End Harassment program; (B) results from the Women's Health Practice-Based Research Network's studies on harassment and sexual assault; (C) data on incidents; (D) a description of what the Secretary did that year to stop it; (E) an assessment of how well the required training (from subsection (a)(2)(H)) is working; and (F) a list of resources the Secretary thinks are needed to prevent harassment and assault. (g) Definitions. (1) "Non-Department individual" means anyone at a VA facility who isn't a VA employee or contractor. (2) "Sexual harassment" means unwanted verbal or physical sexual contact that is threatening.