Home is supposed to be somewhere you feel happy and loved. But have you ever felt dread or fear in a place you are supposed to feel safe? Domestic violence is not spoken about enough, and too many people lose their lives to this problem each year. So, Congress should put more money into prevention and support programs for victims of domestic violence.
Domestic violence affects women in the United States physically, mentally, and emotionally. It affects women in their homes. Approximately 24 women in the United States are being abused per minute by their partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Women deserve support and respect from their partners, not to get punched when they go home. Time reports, “President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget, which kicks in on Oct. 1, 2025, proposes $200 million worth of cuts to grant programs in the Office of Violence Against Women, one of the main sources of funding for many on-the-ground organizations.” If this money goes away, then the groups are going to have less support, and people who are being abused cannot get help. If these women don’t get help, they could lose their lives. I envision a future where all women who are suffering can get the help they need.
We know that most of the time, women don’t get the help they need. Looking at the military’s budget, which this year is 2.32 trillion dollars, according to USAspending.gov, can help us think about how to put some of it into paying caseworkers and increasing the number of women getting help. Using money from the military’s budget to cover that $200 million cut will not make an impact on the military budget, but it will impact the support groups helping women. “Many of these programs operate on a shoestring budget with little in reserve… They’re small employers in their communities, and not knowing whether they’ll be able to rely on these grants has meant some tough decisions, which have a huge impact on their ability to provide services,” claims Time. Using the military money will prevent the number of women dying from domestic violence because they will be able to receive help from support groups. It’s interesting to see that this government can spend billions of dollars on the so-called Department of War and parade tanks down the streets of our city, but can’t pay to protect women from domestic violence.
Imagine you are at a friend’s house and you see that their mother is getting physically hurt by her partner. You try to call for help on the Domestic Violence Hotline. Due to budget cuts, no one picks up. I don’t want to see this happening because it is just not okay. It is not safe. To prevent scenarios like this, Congress should use some of the proposed military budget to help support domestic violence support groups. I want you to tell Congress that this is very serious and it should be spoken up about more.
