Sponsors (9)
Official title: To provide for a grant program to support the establishment and operation of a national faith-based resource center on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Introduced May 14, 2026 by Lois Frankel · Last progress May 14, 2026
The bill aims to improve services for survivors who engage faith communities—creating a federally funded faith‑informed resource center, training, and model state remedies for religious divorce denial—while raising tradeoffs around marginalizing secular survivors, administrative burdens, privacy risks, and modest new federal spending.
Women and other people denied a religious divorce (and their advocates) would gain clearer legal tools and a ready state-model law to help states provide remedies and reduce uneven protections.
Survivors who draw on faith (and faith-based organizations) would get a nationally funded resource center providing faith-informed, trauma‑informed training and services, improving culturally relevant access and referral capacity across communities.
Clergy and faith-based advocates who are often first contacts for victims would receive better training and engagement to identify, respond to, and refer survivors to appropriate services.
Non‑religious survivors and people of differing faiths could be marginalized if services privilege faith‑based approaches, reducing access or comfort for those who prefer secular supports.
Emphasizing faith‑based responses risks diminishing secular clinical supports if programs shift focus without ensuring clinical referrals and evidence‑based care.
Grant eligibility exclusions and consortium lead requirements (prior OVW grant experience) may bar or disadvantage some faith groups and smaller community organizations, concentrating funds with established grantees.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes OVW grants to create a National Resource Center serving victims who identify with faith communities, requires model state language on religious divorce denial, and mandates reporting.
Creates a federally supported National Resource Center to help survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking who identify with religious or spiritual traditions. The center will be run by a consortium that includes faith-based and culturally specific organizations, receive grants from the Office on Violence Against Women, produce model state legislation on religious divorce denial, and report annually on activities and effectiveness.