Title 50, War and National DefenseRelease 119-110

§3531 Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Within the Agency

Title 50 › CHAPTER 46 — CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY › § 3531

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director must create and run a clear, uniform program to prevent and handle sexual assault and sexual harassment at the Agency. That includes training for everyone (onboarding, yearly refreshers, and leader training), written rules to protect the privacy and careers of people who report, and standards for protecting complainants while investigations happen, for fair discipline if allegations are substantiated, and for keeping the mission safe. The Director must also send workplace messages about policies and who to contact, make sure training and reporting work the same way in all settings (including that in-person training for extended or residential courses covers reporting and happens during the first 5 days), work with FBI Victim Advocacy Specialists on training for staff who take reports, allow current or former reporters to get records about their report when appropriate, set procedures for reporters to request transfers out of assignments consistent with section 3532, and set rules for the Special Victim Investigator to handle outside contact requests. The Director must coordinate the Agency’s overall response. At least once every 180 days the Director must personally send a report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Each report must list new allegations (separated into restricted and unrestricted), how many cases got victim advocacy help, and what training happened and how often. For the period starting December 22, 2023 through the report period, the Director must also give totals of allegations, how each was resolved, any corrective actions, how many were not substantiated, and counts of reassignment/relocation requests (granted, denied, and for denials who denied and why). These Agency policies cover all Agency employees and people harmed at Agency places or while doing Agency work, and harassment rules add to the requirements in part 1614 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations. Once every 365 days the Director must run an anonymous climate survey about prevention, response, and prevalence of assault and harassment, and send the findings to the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the House Appropriations Committee.

Full Legal Text

Title 50, §3531

War and National Defense, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Responsibilities of Director (b) Semiannual report
The Director shall carry out the following responsibilities:
(1)Establishing professional and uniform training for employees assigned to working with all aspects of the response of the Agency to allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
(2)Developing and implementing policies and procedures to protect the confidentiality of employees who report sexual assault or sexual harassment and to mitigate negative effects on the reputation or career of such an employee as a result of such a report.
(3)Developing and implementing documented standards for—
(A)appropriate mitigation and protection measures for individuals who make allegations of a sexual assault or sexual harassment to be put in place while an investigation proceeds;
(B)appropriate employee consequences to be imposed based on the findings of an inquiry or investigation into a substantiated allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment;
(C)appropriate career path protection for all employees involved in an incident resulting in a reported allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment while an administrative or criminal investigation or review of the allegation is pending; and
(D)mitigation measures to protect employees and mission execution while such allegations are being addressed.
(4)Articulating and enforcing norms, expectations, practices, and policies, including with respect to employee promotions and assignments, that are published for the workforce and designed to promote a healthy workplace culture that is inhospitable to sexual assault and sexual harassment.
(5)Developing and issuing workforce messaging to inform Agency employees of policies, procedures, resources, and points of contact to obtain information related to, or to report, sexual assault or sexual harassment globally.
(6)Developing and implementing sexual assault and sexual harassment training for all Agency employees that—
(A)is designed to strengthen individual knowledge, skills, and capacity to prevent and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment;
(B)includes onboarding programs, annual refresher training, and specialized leadership training; and
(C)includes details of the definitions of sexual assault and sexual harassment, the distinction between such terms, and what does or does not constitute each.
(7)Developing and implementing processes and procedures applicable to personnel involved in providing the training referred to in paragraph (6) that—
(A)are designed to ensure seamless policy consistency and mechanisms for submitting reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment in all training environments; and
(B)include requirements for in-person training that—
(i)covers the reporting processes for sexual assault and sexual harassment that are specific to training environments for students and trainers; and
(ii)shall be provided at an appropriate time during the first 5 days of any extended or residential training course.
(8)Developing and implementing, in consultation with the Victim Advocacy Specialists of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, appropriate training requirements, policies, and procedures applicable to all employees whose professional responsibilities include interaction with people making reports alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment.
(9)Developing and implementing procedures under which current and former employees of the Agency who have reported an allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment may obtain documents and records related to such a report, as appropriate and upon request.
(10)Developing and implementing procedures under which an employee who makes a restricted or unrestricted report containing an allegation of a sexual assault or sexual harassment may transfer out of the current assignment or location of the employee, upon the request of the employee making the report. Such procedures shall be consistent with the privilege established in section 3532 of this title.
(11)Developing policies and procedures for the Special Victim Investigator, as applicable, to facilitate outside engagement requests of employees reporting allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment as described in section 3532 and 3533 of this title.
(12)Coordinating the response of the Agency to allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
(c)Applicability
(1)In general
The policies developed pursuant to this section shall apply to each of the following:
(A)Any employee of the Agency.
(B)Any person other than an Agency employee who alleges they were sexually assaulted or harassed at a facility associated with the Agency or during the performance of a function associated with the Agency. If such person is an employee of an industrial contractor, the contracting officer for the relevant contract shall coordinate with the contractually identified representative for the prime contractor in a manner consistent with section 3532 of this title.
(2)Relation to existing regulations
The policies developed pursuant to this section for handling allegations of sexual harassment shall be in addition to the requirements of part 1614 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor regulations.
(d)Annual Agency climate assessment
(1)Requirement
Not less frequently than once every 365 days, the Director shall—
(A)complete an Agency climate assessment—
(i)that does not request any information that would make an Agency employee or the position of an Agency employee identifiable;
(ii)for the purposes of—
(I)preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment; and
(II)examining the prevalence of sexual assault and sexual harassment occurring among the Agency’s workforce; and
(iii)that includes an opportunity for Agency employees to express the opinions of the employees regarding the manner and extent to which the Agency responds to allegations of sexual assault and complaints of sexual harassment, and the effectiveness of such response; and
(B)submit to the appropriate congressional committees the findings of the Director with respect to the climate assessment completed pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(2)Appropriate congressional committees defined
In this subsection, the term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
(A)the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B)the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 119–60 added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Reporting and Investigating Allegations of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Within the Central Intelligence Agency Pub. L. 118–31, div. G, title III, § 7339(a), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 1051, provided that: “(a) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that—“(1) sexual assault and sexual harassment arise from, and are often indicative of, an environment where toxic, provocative, and sometimes significantly inappropriate behavior is tolerated; “(2) when supervisors and senior leaders at headquarters and in the field are among the offenders and facilitate a work climate in which toxic and disrespectful behavior is tolerated, harassment and even assault will often go unaddressed and unpunished; “(3) while establishing clear policies and procedures and enhancing training are necessary first steps toward protecting victims and establishing stronger internal mechanisms for preventing and responding to future sexual assault and sexual harassment within the Central Intelligence Agency, comprehensive culture change driven by Agency leadership will be necessary to accomplish impactful and enduring improvement; and “(4) it is vital for the Central Intelligence Agency to maintain an independent and neutral person with whom all employees at all levels, supervisors and non-supervisors, may speak confidentially, informally, and off-the-record about work-related concerns or questions.” Implementation and Reporting Requirements Pub. L. 118–31, div. G, title III, § 7339(e), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 1061, provided that: “(1) Deadline for implementation.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 22, 2023], the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency shall—“(A) complete an Agency climate assessment—“(i) which does not request any information that would make an Agency employee or an Agency employee’s position identifiable; “(ii) for the purposes of—“(I) preventing and responding to sexual assault and sexual harassment; and “(II) examining the prevalence of sexual assault and sexual harassment occurring among the Agency’s workforce; and “(iii) that includes an opportunity for Agency employees to express their opinions regarding the manner and extent to which the Agency responds to allegations of sexual assault and complaints of sexual harassment, and the effectiveness of such response; “(B) submit to the appropriate congressional committees the findings of the Director with respect to the climate assessment completed pursuant to subparagraph (A); “(C) establish and implement the policies required under section 30 and 31 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 [50 U.S.C. 3531 and 3532], as added by subsections (b) and (c), respectively; “(D) consolidate the responsibilities of the Director under section 30 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 [50 U.S.C. 3531] in a single Office, as determined by the Director; and “(E) establish the Special Victim Investigator, as required by section 32 of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 [50 U.S.C. 3533], as added by subsection (d). “(2) Report.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than once every 90 days thereafter for 2 years, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the implementation of this section and the

Amendments

made by this section. The Director shall personally review, approve, and submit each report under this paragraph on a nondelegable basis. “(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.—In this subsection, the term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means—“(A) the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and “(B) the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Defense of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

50 U.S.C. § 3531

Title 50, War and National Defense

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110