For many immigrant survivors of domestic and gender-based violence, language barriers can often be difficult to overcome, adding to the litany of overwhelming challenges they face. Many are financially dependent on their partners, while others are isolated from their family and community. Some may fear that seeking help could jeopardize their immigration status.
To better support survivors of all backgrounds, the New York City Council has established in the city budget a new Culturally Specific Gender Based Violence Initiative, which will provide $3 million in direct funding to grassroots organizations that support domestic violence survivors in immigrant communities. Through this initiative, nonprofits will continue to provide culturally specific support, including interpretation, referrals, counseling, and legal representation for U- and T-Visas.
These groups know their communities intimately and understand the cultural and linguistic barriers that often prevent survivors from seeking help. Organizations like the Korean American Family Service Center, Garden of Hope, Sakhi for South Asian Survivors, Sauti Yetu Center for African Women and Families, Violence Intervention Program (VIP), and Womankind, to name just a few, are the first—and sometimes only—place they can turn to in a moment of crisis.
When survivors connect with someone who understands their language, their culture, and their fears, they can begin to open up, trust, and see a path forward.
That’s why this new initiative matters. By funding the organizations already doing this work in immigrant neighborhoods, many of which are women-led and have deep roots within their communities, we are making sure city resources reach those who need them most.
This new funding initiative goes hand-in-hand with another critical investment in the Fiscal Year 2026 city budget: a new $2 million pilot program to provide legal assistance for domestic violence survivors in divorce proceedings. Legal representation is one of the biggest barriers for victims trying to escape abusive relationships, particularly if they have no independent income or their livelihoods are under threat.
These legal services will give survivors the tools to reclaim their independence and begin new, safer lives for themselves and their families.
These investments are deeply personal to so many of us, and they reflect the priorities of our historically diverse, women-majority City Council. When women—especially women of color—lead, we craft budgets and enact policies that recognize the lived experiences of our diverse constituents.
This Council has consistently prioritized the recovery and healing of survivors. Through our investments, we helped establish New York State’s first three trauma recovery centers, which provide comprehensive, trauma-informed care and victim services. These centers support New Yorkers most affected by all forms of violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.
We have also passed crucial legislation to create a new city program that connects survivors of gender-based violence to door and window repair services and a personal emergency response device. Another program, championed by the Council, provides survivors with low-barrier microgrants, with the aim of helping them maintain safe and stable housing.
When our government doesn’t reflect the people it serves, entire communities fall through the cracks. But when it does, policy becomes a force for equity, justice, and healing.
These new initiatives are an example of that. They help lift up the organizations and community leaders who have been doing this critical, lifesaving work, long before this budget was passed, and who will continue to be there, day after day, for the survivors who need them most.
Through this city budget and this new funding initiative, the Council is sending a clear message that all survivors of domestic and gender-based violence must be supported in our diverse communities.
*Adams is the Speaker of the New York City Council and represents District 28 in Queens. Ung represents District 20 in Queens and is a former legal services attorney who has worked with domestic violence survivors in the Chinese community.
