Introduction
Domestic violence is one of the biggest social challenges that the United States faces and globally. According to the world health organization, one in every five women has experienced domestic violence making women the major victims of this kind of violence (Kurz, 2018). However, children and men are also victims of domestic violence, resulting in many deaths in the United States. Kurz (2018) also notes domestic violence is a global pandemic since, in the US alone, over five million people have been victims of domestic violence in a one-year duration. Despite the increased need to fight domestic violence, the domestic violence and sexual assault programs are experiencing heavy budgetary cuts at all levels of the administration, including Federal, state, and municipal levels. These services are rendered mainly by non-profit community-based programs which get funding from the government. Recently, the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), the largest funding source for domestic violence programs in the US, cut the funding by over 25% (Greg Kim, 221). This negatively affects the program and safety of victims and potential victims as the findings are used to pay for advocates and court-based housing, shelter staff and hotline, children services, and shelter operations. This paper focuses on the influencers of the changes made regarding funding of sexual assault and domestic violence programs in the United States and its effects on current and potential victims.
Greg Kim (2021) indicates that one of the most affected states in the US is Ohio, where its allocation experience cut of over 20 million dollars between the financial year 2020 and 2021. He also suggests that an average of about 7.7 million dollars cut has been experienced in every state in the USA. The major contributor to these changes in the domestic violence budget, influenced by changes in the political processes and public policies. Over the years, United States has experienced profound public policy changes with positive and negative outcomes. The policy changes are influenced by political, cultural, social, and economic factors. However, policy changes seem to overlook disadvantaged groups in the society which are the most affected by sexual abuse and domestic violence (Boadi, 2019). To help victims of domestic violence or save potential victims, housing is critical as they need to flee their homes and seek shelter. Most governmental and non-governmental agencies use the funds provided to them for housing the victims and fund legal processes to get justice for them. States such as California have cut their budget for domestic violence housing resulting in the housing policy change at the federal level. Before COVID 19, rental assistance was reduced in Connecticut, affecting domestic violence programs as housing became expensive. Despite policies at the federal level requiring offenders to leave their homes to stop domestic violence, most states' policies have changed and indicating that each parent is entitled to theirs. In cases where both the victim and offender are parents, they will often meet because of their children endangering the lives of victims. Justice systems have changed where offenders are not severely, especially at the municipal levels, as in most cases, the offenders are powerful compared to victims.
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Political processes change in the USA as every president is elected where they come with their ideologies and method s of leadership. Citizens elect the representatives they deem appropriate at the local and national government levels. The elections are determined based on two parties, including Republicans and Democrats. These changes in the political process affect social safety programs since the two major political parties have differing opinions on various things. During Obama's, United States has less violence as the political process advocated for social welfare through equality and fair justice systems. During his regime, he increased funding to reduce sexual assault and domestic violence through the formulation of legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Affordable Care Act, and Violence against Women Act reauthorization (Kurz, 2018). The political regime championed women's empowerment. Comparatively, during the Trump regime, it was reported that domestic violence had increased alarmingly. Records from domestic violence hotline attendants indicate that domestic violence and sexual assault programs lack the power to control the surging levels of violence in homes. During the Trump regime, the budget for domestic violence was drastically reduced through VOCA, disabling the fight against domestic violence at all levels. The Obama care program funding was reduced, limiting access to affordable care to victims of violence. These trends replicated at all levels of the government. They worsened at municipal levels as there were no funds aimed at domestic violence, with states such as Texas having large numbers of domestic violence lawsuits.
Economic conditions globally have been tough before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations have reported a lack of funding from the local government, such as Your Community Center in Utah, Ogden (Boadi, 2019). The Center reported that they were on the verge of shutting down due to lack of funds as they could not provide shelter to victims. Mortgages have become more expensive, with minimal exceptions for organizations providing shelter for victims. The local governments try to collect taxes at municipal levels to sustain their governments. Private and public organizations are offering domestic violence assistance experience a heavy blow as they are non-profit. Economic strength is vital as it affects budgetary decisions that the US government makes. The United States is a developed nation with most of its citizens comfortably affording basics needs. Some of the social demographics that have affected the budget cuts include personal incomes, level of education, and population. Surveys indicate that most United States citizens have stable jobs; thus, they can individually handle domestic violence cases. However, in the societies such as Mississippi, many citizens can barely afford basic needs, let alone domestic violence legal expenses (Nguyen, 2019). It has led to a surge in domestic violence in such communities, greatly influenced by their levels of education.
Culture differs from one state to another in the United States regarding how they behave, live, perceptions, and relations. Some states show that they can generate their resources locally, leading to the federal government cutting some of its funds. Many Texas residents portray a self-dependent culture, thus trying to raise the local government operations expenditure locally. There have been surging domestic violence cases in Texas, especially from ethnic minorities (Boadi, 2019). In a recent instance, a woman who initially reported a domestic violence case got arrested by immigration police for lack of proper documents, allegedly hidden by the spouse who was violating her. A change in budgeting at the federal level affects both the governments at the state and municipal levels. Despite that most states raise money from various economic activities directed to municipal governments, most states cannot sustain themselves from the funds they generate locally. Domestic violence programs are run from the three levels where they are interdependent. Most politicians excuse budget cuts for domestic violence programs to make affordable healthcare and fair justice systems. The agencies that support the fight for domestic violence can't have any impact if the direct agencies giving such services don't exist.
Conclusion
Sexual assault and domestic violence are a pandemic that needs to be seriously fought against since it has led to the loss of many innocent lives and the development of health complications. The main challenge that domestic violence programs face is consistent and enough funding from governments. Over the years, less attention has been paid to domestic violence leading to drastic budget cuts to provide funds to private and public organizations implementing the programs. Budget is affected by several factors like political process and policy changes, cultural, social, and economical. Politicians justify the budget cuts using community-based resources, the creation of affordable healthcare and fair justice systems. However, without directly assisting organizations, the fight against sexual assaults and domestic violence cannot succeed.
References
Boadi, K., 2019. Budget Cuts Endanger Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims - Center for American Progress . Revised. [online] Center for American Progress. Available at: <https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2013/05/20/63861/budget-cuts-endanger-domestic-violence-and-sexual-assault-victims/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
Greg Kim, K., 2021. Domestic violence shelters face 'terrible choices' from looming federal cuts . [online] KTOO. Available at: <https://www.ktoo.org/2021/04/08/domestic-violence-shelters-face-terrible-choices-from-looming-federal-funding-cuts/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
Kurz, D. (2018). 6. Women, Welfare, and Domestic Violence. In Whose welfare? (pp. 132-151). Cornell University Press.
Nguyen, J., 2020. Domestic Violence Budget Cut . [online] Available at: <https://www.abc4.com/news/domestic-violence-organizations-told-to-prepare-for-a-25-cut-in-funding/> [Accessed 28 April 2021].
