Anti-domestic violence groups sue Trump administration over grant requirements
Source: ABC News/AP
June 16, 2025, 1:56 PM
Seventeen statewide anti-domestic and sexual violence coalitions are suing President Donald Trump's administration over requirements in grant applications that they don't promote “gender ideology” or run diversity, equity and inclusion programs or prioritize people in the country illegally. The groups say the requirements, which Trump ushered in with executive orders, put them in “an impossible position.”
If they don't apply for federal money allocated under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, they might not be able to provide rape crisis centers, battered women's shelters and other programs to support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. But if the groups do apply, they said in the lawsuit, they would have to make statements they called “antithetical to their core values” — and take on legal risk.
In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island on Monday, the coalitions said that agreeing to the terms of grants could open them to federal investigations and enforcement actions as well as lawsuits from private parties. The groups suing include some from Democratic-controlled states, such as the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, and in GOP-dominated ones, including the Idaho Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence.
The groups say the requirements are at odds with federal laws that require them not to discriminate on the basis of gender identity, to aid underserved racial and ethnic groups, and to emphasize immigrants with some programs and not to discriminate based on legal status.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/anti-domestic-violence-groups-suing-trump-administrations-grant-122899827
Link to PRESS RELEASE - Nationwide Coalition Files Lawsuit to Challenge Administration’s Attempt to Withhold Violence Against Women Grants that Support Survivors
Link to COMPLAINT (PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/RICADV-v.-Bondi-25-cv-279-D.R.I.-Complaint.pdf
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