Editor’s Note: This piece was updated to reflect that the Supreme Court issued rulings in the United States vs. Rahimi and mifepristone cases.
The Supreme Court issued a decision last week in United States vs. Rahimi, a case involving a man with a domestic violence restraining order who claimed he should be able to own a gun. In prohibiting abusive partners from accessing firearms, the ruling protects domestic violence victims. . Despite this victory, survivors continue to face dangers, while the organizations that help them contend with thin resources.
Societal stigma and misconceptions surrounding domestic violence have resulted in minimal philanthropic support for this movement. That harms victims and survivors who must contend with maxed-out services, and organizations that want to expand their work to better meet survivors’ needs but lack the resources to do so.
For example, at the National Domestic Violence Hotline, where I’m chief development officer, more than 40 percent of calls go unanswered due to high volume and long wait times. The services we refer survivors to are also overburdened. Survivors, for example, frequently don’t get the legal support they need because of both a lack of lawyers to handle legal proceedings and court backlogs. In addition, shelters may have to turn away victims and their young children and give priority to those facing the highest level of danger.
Fortunately, another path is possible in which domestic violence is rare due to prevention efforts that promote non-violent communication and mutual respect in relationships. When abuse does occur, all hotline calls are answered, shelters have space for everyone and are available in all communities, attorneys can immediately respond to survivors’ needs, and laws exist to protect survivors.
The reality today, of course, is very different. Domestic violence is a pervasive, intersectional issue affecting approximately 10 million people every year in the United States. While domestic violence does not discriminate based on gender, race, sexual orientation, income level or immigration status, it does disproportionately affect systemically oppressed people, who often face greater barriers to help.
Domestic violence incidences rose 8 percent during the pandemic lockdown. After the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the National Domestic Violence Hotline saw a 100 percent increase in calls from people experiencing a form of abuse known as “reproductive coercion” in which a partner may sabotage contraception or create barriers to accessing birth control. Meanwhile, intimate partner homicides have risen 22 percent since 2018.
The recent Supreme Court decisions in both United States vs. Rahimi and a case that upholds access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions, will help — for now. But laws endangering victims persist throughout the country, which will increase demand for services.
Organizations lack adequate funding to meet survivors’ needs. The national economic cost of domestic and family violence is estimated at more than $12 billion a year. But in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, family and gender-based violence organizations received just $1.3 billion in philanthropic dollars. That’s less than 1 percent of the $88.55 billion spent in foundation grant making that same year.
Declining Federal Funds
Many domestic violence organizations rely on government funding through the Violence Against Women Act, Victims of Crime Act, and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. But federal dollars for these services is declining, and organizations across the country are bracing for additional cuts in 2024.
Here are four ways foundations can better support domestic violence prevention organizations, provide stability and resources to survivors and their families, help advocate for better policies, and ultimately prevent domestic violence in all its forms:
Rethink grant-making strategies. Although domestic violence affects people across all genders and sexual orientations, it is still largely classified as a women’s issue. This mislabeling erases the experiences of one in seven men in the U.S., who experience domestic violence in their lifetime.
It also ignores how domestic violence intersects with other big issues, including children and families, public health, immigration, racial justice, reproductive justice, mental health, housing and homelessness, economic justice, education outcomes, gun violence prevention, responsible technology, and voting rights.
Foundations don’t need a gender program to support the domestic violence movement. Any foundation working on the above issues can and should include domestic violence in their grant-making strategy.
Think beyond shelters. I applaud foundations who already give to a local domestic violence shelter. But I also challenge them to do more. Shelters are a critical resource for domestic violence survivors, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
Foundations can consider giving to other organizations that serve and support survivors of domestic violence, such as direct-service nonprofits that provide shelter and legal aid, hotlines, crisis-intervention services, and advocacy organizations.
Education and prevention services that attempt to stop domestic violence before it starts are particularly beneficial. The Love is Respect program, for example, which is operated through the National Domestic Violence Hotline, focuses on healthy-relationship education, especially for teens and young adults, including teaching and empowering them to prevent and end abusive relationships.
Supporting every aspect of domestic violence prevention ensures that grant makers not only address the symptoms of domestic violence but tackle its root causes.
Support survivors on the job. The pervasiveness of domestic violence means most people know someone who has been affected by it. More than one in five full-time employed adults in the U.S. identify as survivors of intimate-partner violence, and 64 percent report that it has affected their ability to work. That could include absenteeism or distraction while at work.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline often works with foundations and corporations to ensure that internal policies are trauma-informed and responsive. For example, paid-leave options can accommodate employees experiencing domestic violence by allowing them to take paid time off to deal with injuries, attend court dates, and heal from trauma. They can also offer educational training to staff to create an informed and safe workplace where survivors feel supported.
Amplify survivor stories. Survivors should have a seat at every table where decisions are made that affect their lives, from working with nonprofits on effective programs to having a voice in federal policy decisions. Grant makers should consider how best to help survivors participate in these discussions by sharing their stories, providing expertise, and influencing advocacy. Such efforts should ensure survivors have full agency over how and when they share their stories and must prioritize their personal well-being.
Thanks to domestic violence organizations across the country, people have been able to secure housing so they can escape an abusive partner. People who might not otherwise know how to navigate the legal system have won custody of their children and obtained much-needed protection orders. And laws have been created with survivors at the center.
While progress has been made, much more work remains. With $108 million, the more than 6,000 survivors with unmet emergency shelter and housing needs on a single day in 2022 could have been provided a safe place to stay for an entire year. With $11 million, the National Domestic Violence Hotline could hire enough people to answer every call this year.
This is an uncomplicated equation: More funding means more services for victims and survivors. For the movement to end domestic violence, it means a path free of barriers to address a solvable problem that harms far too many people.
