Trump Admin Accused of 'Grievous Harm' to Groups Fighting Abuse of Women
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A national group of 17 state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions today sued the Trump administration today, accusing it of causing "grievous harm" by imposing unlawful restrictions on grants issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump successfully ran for office in part on social and cultural issues like reducing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government and in areas like education. Following his first successful election victory in 2017, Trump and federal officials weighed "dramatic cuts" in funding for initiatives to end sexual and domestic violence against women.
What To Know
The 80-page lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island is backed by 17 plaintiffs from domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions in the following states: Rhode Island, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, Kansas, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Virginia and Wisconsin.
"Plaintiffs file this action to enjoin Defendants' unlawful actions that are causing Plaintiffs' grievous harm," the lawsuit states. "The new OVW (Office on Violence Against Women) funding conditions violate the Constitution. Congress has the power of the purse, and the Executive Branch may not place conditions on funding that Congress did not authorize, nor can it impose conditions that run contrary to those Congress directly imposed."
The Department of Justice (DOJ) building headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) building headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Getty Images
The defendants in the suit are U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Ginger Baran Lyons, acting director of the OVW. The OVW is under the guise of DOJ.
The suit was filed by local attorneys representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, the Lawyers' Committee for Rhode Island, Democracy Forward, Jacobson Lawyers Group, and the National Women's Law Center.
Newsweek reached out to plaintiffs for comment.
"The Trump administration now demands loyalty oaths to its destructive and discriminatory policies," Sandra Henriquez, CEO of the California-based nonprofit ValorUS, told Newsweek on Monday. "We will not be complicit in our government's ongoing terror inflicted on survivors. Let's be clear: VALOR's loyalty lies with survivors and communities working to end sexual violence."
Plaintiffs challenge that funding conditions violate due process and the First Amendment "in leveraging federal funds to force grantees to voice the Administration's views on gender and in attempting to prohibit grantees from promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion even when not using federal funds."
"The conditions exceed Defendants' statutory authority and in many cases outright conflict with statutory commands—OVW's decision to implement these conditions is arbitrary and capricious in virtually every way that an agency action can be arbitrary and capricious. OVW's imposing of these funding conditions is clearly unlawful, and it must be brought to an immediate end," the suit says.
Fears expressed by plaintiffs are that the administration's new requirements place them in a precarious and "impossible" situation, between attaining funding necessary to provide services and fulfill missions while accepting and certifying compliance with conditions that are in tension with their statutory duties, unlawfully vague, restrictive of speech, in violation of other constitutional and statutory requirements, and at odds with their values and missions.
Grant requirements put forward by the administration bar organizational plaintiffs from promoting "gender ideology" or any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs "that do not advance the policy of equal dignity and respect." The organizations are also barred from engaging in "activities that frame domestic violence or sexual assault as systemic social justice issues rather than criminal offenses" and from "promoting" the "violation of federal immigration law."
There were 880 grants awarded by OVW in fiscal year 2024, totaling $684 million in funding.
In May, 34 Democratic Women's Caucus members penned a letter to Bondi, criticizing the administration's attacks on survivors of domestic violence through the rolling back of gun policies aimed at preventing abusers from legally possessing firearms.
OVW administers grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 and subsequent legislation.
What People Are Saying
Lucy Rios, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence (RICADV), in a statement: "The frameworks that inform our mission and the knowledge and research from our field are also at risk. Domestic violence is unequivocally a public health and social justice issue. We refuse to renounce this understanding that is central to our work."
Krista Colón, executive director of the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, in a statement: "Instead of discriminating against survivors for their gender identity and immigration status, OVW grants should open the way to safety, healing and services for every one of the millions of Californians looking for help during the most dangerous and traumatic times of their lives."
Brie Franklin, executive director of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in a statement: "Since there is no regular state funding for victim services, programs in Colorado have no choice but to sign the certifications and risk unintentionally violating them due to the vague language and conflicts with the VAWA statute. Without federal funds, vital services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence will cease to exist in our state."
What Happens Next
The lawsuit seeks relief and to declare the DOJ's funding mechanisms as "unlawful" and aims to vacate the defendants' policy of including "out-of-scope" funding conditions and anti-DEI certification requirements in the general terms and conditions in OVW grants and notices of funding opportunities.
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