SOS Campus Act

Survivor Outreach and Support Campus Act or the SOS Campus Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in a program under title IV (Student Assistance) to designate an independent advocate for campus sexual assault prevention and response with experience in providing sexual assault victim services.

Each advocate must:

• ensure that sexual assault victims at the IHE are able to receive, at their election, specified information and services;
• guide sexual assault victims who request assistance through the reporting, counseling, administrative, medical and health, academic accommodations, or legal processes of the IHE or local law enforcement;
• attend, at the request of a sexual assault victim, any administrative or IHE-based adjudication proceeding related to the assault as an advocate for the victim;
• maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the victim and any witness to the sexual assault and not notify the IHE or any other person of the identity of the victim or of any such witness or the alleged circumstances surrounding the reported sexual assault except as otherwise required by state law or, with respect to the identity of the victim or witness, with the consent of the victim or witness; and
• conduct a public information campaign to inform the students enrolled at the IHE of the existence of, contact information for, and services provided by the advocate.

In addition, the bill prohibits IHEs from retaliating against: (1) advocates for representing the interests of a student victims, or (2) student victims for reporting sexual assaults to advocates.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov