Federal grants to help domestic violence victims fight tech-enabled abuse

What it does

This bill creates two federal grant programs to help domestic violence and sexual assault victims combat technology-enabled abuse. The first program funds consortia (partnerships between universities, tech companies, and victim service organizations) to provide victims with new devices and services to counter stalking, monitoring, and harassment via technology. The second program funds nonprofits and colleges to train advocates and develop educational materials on tech abuse. Both programs are 5-year pilots with modest funding caps ($2M per grant, max 15 grants for the first program; $20M total for the second).

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is the authorization of federal grants to support domestic violence and sexual assault victims in combating technology-enabled abuse. It is a straightforward public-health appropriations measure with no deregulation, tax carve-outs, or private-sector immunity provisions.

What the text implies

• The bill's success depends on sustained appropriations; authorization language ('such sums as necessary') does not guarantee funding will be allocated by Congress in annual budgets.
• Consortia eligibility requires partnerships with higher-education institutions or private-sector tech partners; this may create barriers for smaller, rural, or under-resourced victim service providers without existing tech-sector relationships.
• The 5-year pilot structure means programs must demonstrate efficacy within that window to justify permanent funding; victims in areas where pilots are not awarded receive no new federal support during the pilot period.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill directly funds services and resources for domestic violence and sexual assault victims to counter a documented, widespread form of abuse. No restrictions on victims' rights or remedies are imposed; the mechanism is purely additive—new funding for protective services. The bill addresses a concrete public health problem (97% of DV support programs report abusers using technology) with evidence-based solutions (trained tech experts integrated into survivor support networks).

Who stands to gain

• nonprofit victim service organizations
• institutions of higher education (IT/cybersecurity programs)
• private-sector tech companies and volunteers (as consortium partners)

Named in the bill

Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education, Federal Communications Commission, Violence Against Women Act of 1994, Higher Education Act of 1965

Where it stands

• Jun 25, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Ron Wyden, the sponsor, reported $375,070 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Doterra — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 19, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.