Domestic violence advocates concerned over recent deaths, potential funding cuts

NINA MOINI: A note to listeners-- this next conversation is about domestic violence. Please take care while listening. An organization that tracks domestic violence in Minnesota reported one intimate partner killing every week for the last four weeks. From April 12 to May 7, murder charges have been filed in two of these deaths, and law enforcement believe the two others occurred in murder suicides.

Violence Free Minnesota has tracked seven total intimate partner killings so far this year. And behind each one is a human life, friends, families, and communities in mourning. Joining me to talk about efforts to prevent the loss of more lives is Guadalupe Lopez, executive director of Violence Free Minnesota. Thank you for being with us this afternoon, Guadalupe.

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Thank you for inviting me.

NINA MOINI: Four deaths in four weeks is striking. Can you talk about the impact beyond the numbers, just how it's making people feel?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Currently, right now, we created a group within Violence Free Minnesota with advocates around the state who are adding their expertise, passion, concern and talents to a homicide working group. And we just held that last week.

And one of the things that we were talking about is, how do we hold community in a good way? Support community, support the families that have lost their family members and people who have lost coworkers. The death of our community members ripples out not merely just within the family unit, but also within community. And that needs to be recognized. And so how do we take care of ourselves during these times? And how do we stand and support one another during the major grief and loss of a preventable violence?

NINA MOINI: And listeners may not that Violence Free has been tracking these difficult numbers to track every year since 1989. And in 2023, there were a reported 40 intimate partner homicides over the year. That was the highest number since you all began tracking them. The numbers went down in 2024.

Why is it important to track these numbers every year? And understanding that every case is, obviously, individual and we don't know what's going to happen, how do you take away trends or conclusions from what you're seeing?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Well, the million dollar question that we get a lot from concerned policymakers and media is, why the numbers? Why maybe so much less in one year than the other? And it's really hard to say. There's really no answer.

I know that there has been lots of different trends within our report tracking. And some of them are like, was it a current or former intimate partner-- the violence used? Were they in process of leaving the relationship? That is the most heightened dangerous time for somebody to leave.

We also track was there firearms used, other sources of weapons? So if you read the report, we have different ways that we have tracked the unfortunate homicides of our community members and the cause of death.

NINA MOINI: And that is something that people can look at because of your work and try to say, where could laws be changed, or what are we seeing? So that's critical. Your organization has also noted that this year, four of the seven victims whose stories that you have followed were Black. We know that Black women are murdered by partners at higher rates than white women. What can be done about that? Or what is being done about this at the state level?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Well, I'm happy and honored and also sad. But I am very proud of Minnesota that we have two offices. We have the Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office that was just started up. And Director Burkes runs that currently, and she's staffing. And they're just getting their navigation and processes of what that looks like for our Black relatives in the community and that violence.

And we also have a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office. We are the only state right now that has two of those offices looking specifically at the murder rates of Indigenous and Black women, and also because of the task force and the legislation and the bipartisan support that we received around crime victim service funding to make sure that we have that support within Minnesota. And so I'm really proud.

And then there's a piece of grief that says that we need those offices. But I'd rather have them than not have them because I know we are not the only state that are seeing those horrible statistics. And Violence Free is dedicated to working with Director Burkes and her amazing team in any way that we can do to support, and whether that means sharing information, numbers, standing in solidarity, but also just standing shoulder to shoulder for support because this work is very hard.

NINA MOINI: So you spoke a little bit about what's going on at the state level and some of the resources. But we do want to talk about at the national level. There have been reports that the United States Department of Justice had ended grants to organizations, some of them serving victims and survivors of domestic violence. Some of them have been restored.

There's been a lot in the last few months of not knowing exactly what funding is or is not going to come through. Is this something that Violence Free or other organizations that you work with is being impacted by?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Currently, right now, there has been a lot of activism done to make sure that we are written in statute in certain cases, some of the coalition fundings, and, right now, that those are being adhered to. And so just making sure that our laws are protecting survivors and the work that is being done to support community members who are surviving multiple forms of violence.

I think one of the concerns that I have personally is our prevention funds that are-- prevention funds actually seem to be always the first bucket of funds that get taken off the table. And my concern for that is we'll never get ahead of this if we don't look into prevention. We know that domestic violence and sexual violence is preventable. And so putting in efforts to making sure that we are taking strides and listening to our community, listening to survivors, listening to our systems partners on best ways to keep Minnesotans safe.

NINA MOINI: Since we know that the state legislative session is going to be coming to a close shortly and in less than a week or so, is there anything budget-wise that you are keeping your eye on there, particularly if federal funds or prevention funds are to be taken away?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Well, I'm proud to say when we go to the legislature every year to either enhance or change some bills or create bills for survivors that make it a safer Minnesota for them or just checking in with funding, is that it's always bipartisan, which I'm happy to see.

And so that makes for Minnesotan legislature to understand of how important crime victim services and support services for Minnesotans is crucial. And it's a public safety, and it's also a public health issue. It makes me feel good to know that we have lots of allies that are in the state offices, believing in this work.

NINA MOINI: All right. And so before I let you go, just getting back to the past four weeks or so, when we hear about these instances-- they're in the news, and then they're not. We know that so many people are impacted. If anybody is listening, is there anything that you encourage people to do, just to be able to support or be helpful to any victims or survivors who might be in a situation that they are trying to get out of? What do you recommend that people do to help somebody?

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: So there is a Day One hotline if you are experiencing-- were you going to have that available at the end of our interview?

NINA MOINI: We will say it, absolutely.

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Yay. So we have a Day One hotline for people who are looking for safety and shelter advocacy. Our website also is violencefreeminnesota.org. We do not do direct services. But we do have a webpage on there that allows you to see crisis centers that help with domestic and sexual violence, sex trafficking around the state of Minnesota and near your county. So if you are Northern, Southern, Metro, that could be a resource for you.

I also just want to say that you're not alone. And it takes a lot of courage to ask for help. It takes a lot of courage to make changes or to seek services. And I just want to say that it's not your fault that you're surviving violence, even though you might think it might be. And you're not alone. And so we want you here. And there's a lot of people who dedicate their lives to support people who are surviving violence.

NINA MOINI: Guadalupe, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.

GUADALUPE LOPEZ: Yes, thank you.

NINA MOINI: Guadalupe Lopez is executive director of Violence Free Minnesota. And as she mentioned, if you or someone you know is in a dangerous situation with a partner, there is a 24-hour statewide domestic and sexual violence hotline. You can call Minnesota Day One at 866-223-1111, or text 612-399-9995. We'll have that information at mprnews.org as well when you click on this story.