Seventeen Organizations Call on Congress to Cut Budget for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Robert D. Thompson

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Seventeen Organizations Call on Congress to Cut Budget for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

April 23, 2025 / WASHINGTON — Seventeen national organizations have sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee in Congress calling for changes to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the FY2026 Federal budget (1) and (2).

According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year there are 6.5 million male victims and 5.9 million female victims of domestic violence (3).

One of its largest VAWA programs is the STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant program, which each year awards over $170 million to states. It allocates the funding in this way: (4)

25 percent for law enforcement
25 percent for prosecutors
30 percent for victim services
5 percent to state and local courts

The 17 organizations called upon the House Appropriations Committee to reduce the funding for this Grant Program, as part of its Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriation bill. These reductions are essential to curb federally funded programs that are wasteful, harmful, and violate the Fourteenth Amendment which promises equal treatment under law to all citizens.

They are requesting a 50% reduction to $85 million annually in funding until the following problems areas are resolved.

Domestic violence programs openly discriminate against male victims: (5) Only 9% of victims served under VAWA are male: (6)
Biased training of police results in 80% of DV arrestees being male: (7)
Prosecutors are less vigorous in their prosecution of women accused of domestic violence: (8)
Biased training of judges has undermined the principle of “equal justice under law.” (9)

The 50% reduction is appropriate, given the fact that men, who represent over half of all domestic violence victims, are largely ignored by VAWA funded programs and services.

In addition, the American Bar Association recently announced that the Trump administration is terminating all of their grants received from the DOJ’s Office of Violence Against Women. (10)

SAVE – Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – is a 501(c)3 organization working to assure due process, fairness, and equal opportunities for men.

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