FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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New Requirements Threaten Support for Victims of Violence
Harrisburg, PA (June 16th, 2025) – The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) joins a nationwide group of state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions that today filed a new lawsuit seeking immediate relief to stop the Trump-Vance administration from imposing unreasonable and unlawful restrictions on grants issued by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). New restrictions imposed on grant funding for domestic and sexual violence prevention services make it impossible for many of the service providers to operate programs effectively, threatening to eliminate services that victims of violence rely on in neighborhoods throughout the country.
After taking office in January, President Trump issued a series of executive orders directing agency heads to impose conditions on federal funding, including to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the administration deems “illegal” and “immoral” and efforts that recognize and respect people regardless of gender identity. The new unworkable and harmful restrictions put grant recipients in impossible situations, asking them to certify that they comply with limitations on their ability to operate as Congress has required – specifically targeting vulnerable populations – or risk penalties under the False Claims Act.
“When the Executive Branch asks us to ignore the directives of Congress, we have no choice but to act,” said Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence CEO Susan Higginbotham. “The President cannot delegate powers to other executive branch officials that violate the Constitution.”
PCADV is a domestic violence coalition founded in 1976 and headquartered in Harrisburg, PA. The coalition serves as both a membership organization and a funder for Pennsylvania’s domestic violence direct service programs, making it the largest domestic violence coalition in the United States. It provides technical assistance, training, and advocacy, as well as development of service standards and monitoring programs for compliance with funding requirements.
The group of state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions joining PCADV in the lawsuit includes Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence; California Partnership to End Domestic Violence; Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault; DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence; End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence; Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Jane Doe Inc. (The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence); Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence; North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence; Montana Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; ValorUS; Violence Free Minnesota; Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance; and Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The coalitions are represented in the matter by Democracy Forward, Jacobson Lawyers Group, the ACLU of Rhode Island, National Women’s Law Center, and DeLuca, Weizenbaum, Barry & Revens, Ltd. / Lawyers’ Committee of Rhode Island.
“We’ve spent decades building bridges across systems and collaborating in bipartisan efforts to end domestic violence and support the most vulnerable in our communities,” said Higginbotham. “Now, we’re being told that doing so must come at the cost of silencing voices and erasing identities. That’s unacceptable. Everyone fleeing domestic violence deserves help, dignity, and respect.”
Created as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was Congress’s comprehensive response to the issue of violence against women, focusing primarily on legal protections, increased enforcement, access to legal structures and assistance, and expanded services for victims. VAWA has enhanced investigations and prosecutions of sex offenses, funded a toll-free hotline for victims of domestic violence, offered financial incentives for states to focus on domestic violence as a serious crime, provided grants for colleges and universities to address violence against women on campus, provisioned emergency shelter and housing assistance for individuals fleeing violence, and included components on rape and battery that focused on prevention, funding for victim services, and a requirement that every state acknowledge and respect orders of protection issued anywhere in the United States.
In order to ensure a comprehensive approach to addressing violence against women, Congress created a broad set of grant programs for states, federally recognized state and territory domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions, service providers, and tribes. These programs focus on a broad range of activities, from preventing domestic violence and sexual assault to fostering collaboration between law enforcement and victim service providers to preventing crimes in national parks, among others. Congress has reauthorized and amended VAWA four times since its enactment, creating OVW and directing it to award grants under specific criteria and limitations set by Congress.
“PCADV is the oldest statewide domestic violence coalition in the country. Our founding principles were to protect survivors and work in collaboration across systems that include law enforcement and the courts” Higginbotham said. “We exist because of statute, and the core of our decades of work is defined by Congress. The Executive Order is asking us to go against statute and our core values. We have no choice but to raise our voices, together. Domestic violence victims and the programs that serve them will not be silenced.”
The plaintiffs filed their complaint against the Department of Justice, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, the OVW, and the Office’s acting director Ginger Baran Lyons, asking a federal court in the District of Rhode Island to stop the implementation of the unlawful conditions added by the DOJ.
To read the complaint, please click here.
To read Democracy Foward’s official release, please click here.
About PCADV
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) is a statewide collaborative membership organization committed to ending intimate partner violence and all forms of violence and oppression.
Each year, we work with our 59 member programs across the state to provide free and confidential direct services to nearly 90,000 victims and survivors of domestic violence and their children in all 67 counties of the Commonwealth. Together, local programs and the statewide Coalition work in collaboration to deliver a continuum of services, support, and systems to help victims and survivors find safety, obtain justice, and build lives free of abuse.
At PCADV, we embrace diversity and its collective strength in creating a community where systems support ALL so everyone can thrive. Led by this principle and to fulfill our mission of ending all forms of violence, we simultaneously strive to challenge and eliminate all types of systemic racism, oppression, and injustice.
PCADV is proud to lead the charge and stand alongside our other state coalitions to provide a voice for all survivors and the programs that serve them.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please visit pcadv.org/find-help or call the national hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
About Democracy Forward
Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.