Without the federal government, almost no money exists to fight domestic violence

October 31, 2025

The Trump administration's budget proposals and organizational changes threaten to dismantle decades of federally-funded domestic violence prevention infrastructure in the United States. Since the Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994, the federal government has been the primary funder of shelters, hotlines, legal services, and prevention programs that serve millions of abuse survivors annually. The president's proposed budget would eliminate entire programs and cut hundreds of millions of dollars from initiatives supporting domestic violence victims, while CDC teams responsible for violence prevention research have already been decimated through layoffs and reorganization.

Who is affected

Current and former intimate partner violence victims (4 out of 10 women and 1 out of 4 men who have experienced such violence)
Families and children staying in domestic violence shelters
Transgender survivors of violence
Immigrant survivors of abuse
LGBTQ+ survivors
Native American tribes
Lawyers and caseworkers at domestic violence organizations facing potential layoffs
Organizations and nonprofits providing direct services including the National Domestic Violence Hotline, FORGE, California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, and Pennsylvania Coalition to End Domestic Violence
CDC staff in the Division of Violence Prevention who have experienced layoffs
State and local grantees implementing prevention programs

What action is being taken

The Trump administration has decimated violence prevention teams and eliminated divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services through reorganization
The CDC workforce responsible for intimate partner violence and sexual assault prevention has been severely reduced through purges of the civilian workforce
Nonprofits dedicated to supporting survivors have sued the Trump administration over restrictions on spending
National organizations such as NNEDV and The Hotline are urging the public to call their representatives
Representatives Debbie Dingell, Gwen Moore, Josh Gottheimer, and Young Kim are putting bipartisan pressure on the DOJ
FORGE is conducting a renewed call for individual donations
Democratic attorneys general have filed lawsuits suspending restrictions on providing support to immigrant survivors

Why it matters

This represents an unprecedented disruption to critical public health and safety infrastructure built over half a century. Federal funding is the backbone of the nation's domestic violence safety net—without it, the scale of services including shelters, legal protections, hotlines, and prevention programs would not exist. The National Domestic Violence Hotline alone receives over 2,000 contacts daily and depends on federal funds for three-quarters of its revenue. Legal protections enabled by these services prevent abusers from owning guns and reduce domestic violence homicides, which are most frequently carried out with firearms. The changes threaten to reverse progress in treating domestic violence as a public health crisis rather than a private family matter, potentially trapping victims in cycles of abuse and increasing deadly violence, particularly against women who comprise more than half of all women homicide victims killed by current or former partners.

What's next

Congress is fighting over appropriations, which has shut down D.C. for 30 days
The House and Senate budget proposals for fiscal 2026 are being considered (Senate proposes $720 million for VAWA programs within DOJ, House suggests $640 million)
Judges will continue ruling on lawsuits filed by nonprofits against spending restrictions
Organizations are working to diversify their funding sources
Advocates anticipate greater disparities between red and blue states in access to services

Read full article from source: The 19th