SCCADVASA

Intimate partner violence is inextricably linked to the widespread use of guns by abusers. Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner.

A report published by the Violence Policy Center(VPC) last year analyzing 2023 homicide data found that more than 78 percent of female victims murdered by males in South Carolina that year were killed with a firearm exceeding the already high national average of 65 percent.

Domestic disturbance calls are among the most unpredictable and dangerous scenes for responding officers. Law enforcement and first responders are encouraged to join us on July 30th in Columbia for the Preventing Domestic Violence Homicide: Lethality Program Assessment (LAP) Summit to help ensure that every officer on the scene recognizes the "unseen" danger, and every high-risk victim is met with a coordinated, community-wide shield.

The event will focus on recognizing coercive control and its role in domestic fatality, understanding the importance of a coordinated community response, and learning more about the LAP, an evidence-based screening tool that helps assess a victim’s risk of homicide or near fatality and connect them with support at the scene.

➡️ Learn more and register: https://sc.coalitionmanager.org/eventmanager/trainingevent/details/1355

A safety plan is a personalized, practical plan of action to help survivors and their families stay safe while experiencing abuse, preparing to leave an abusive situation, and after they leave.

Visit SCCADVASA’s Safety Planning web page at sccadvasa.org/safety-planning for a list of resources including the National Domestic Violence Hotline's online interactive safety plan tool.

SCCADVASA Executive Director Sara Barber and R**e Crisis Center Horry & Georgetown SC Executive Director Lindy Studds are in Washington, DC this week, joining The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) and National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV) for to amplify the voices of sexual assault and domestic violence survivors on Capitol Hill.

Survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence have urgent, ongoing housing, legal, economic, health, safety, and other human needs. It’s critical that Congress sustains the government’s investment in life-saving services and ensures that funding distribution is efficiently accomplished by federal agencies.

An estimated 1 in 10 older Americans experience elder abuse. Save the date and join SCCADVASA on June 12th for the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day ( ) Walk!

➡️ Learn more and register: http://bit.ly/49wchWx

SCCADVASA Legal Assistance to Victims Program Attorney Teresa Van Vlake traveled to Dallas last week for the 21st Annual Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW).

The event featured more than 250 workshops, case studies, and interactive sessions focused on multidisciplinary strategies to respond to violence against women while encouraging a coordinated community response.

🙌 SCCADVASA is grateful for the continued support of the South Carolina Bar Foundation! Our 2026 grant award will fund SCCADVASA’s Legal Assistance to Victims Program, which provides legal services to survivors across South Carolina, and our Language Access Program’s efforts to expand support for bilingual professionals in victim services.

In 2025, our legal team connected 436 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and harassment with attorneys for direct legal services – at no cost to the survivor.

We are also excited to receive a two-year Impact Grant to support an innovative, collaborative project to strengthen Domestic Violence-Legal Aid Partnerships throughout the state.

SCCADVASA member organizations Project REST, The Laurens County SAFE Home, Sistercare, Pathways to Healing of South Carolina, Hopeful Horizons, and the Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties have also been awarded 2026 SC Bar Foundation grant funding to support their legal advocacy efforts in helping survivors and their families.

⚖️ Grantee Spotlight: SCCADVASA

SCCADVASA has been a leading voice for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, advancing prevention through advocacy, education, and collaboration. Their impact reaches statewide providing direct services in local communities, along with strong partnerships across the country.

🔗 Learn more about their impact on our website: https://scbarfoundation.org/grantees/

Financial abuse is a common tactic used by abusers to gain power and control over survivors and is often cited by victims as the main reason they stayed in or returned to an abusive relationship.

It can include controlling a survivor's access to finances, sabotaging their employment, ruining their credit, stealing their identity, or coercing them to commit financial fraud.

The National Network to End Domestic Violence's Financial Abuse Toolkit offers survivor resources including a financial safety planning guide: https://nnedv.org/resources-library/financial-abuse-toolkit/

While the SCCADVASA offices are closed in observance of Memorial Day, we know that domestic violence and sexual assault can occur at any time. If you need help, our member organizations have hotlines that are staffed 24/7.

➡️ Find an interactive map of providers on our website: sccadvasa.org/get-help

☎️ Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)

☎️ Call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)