Domestic violence survivors and their advocates have condemned Donald Trump’s remarks dismissing intimate partner violence as a “little fight with the wife,” warning that the president’s dismissive statements send a dangerous message that normalizes abuse.
In Monday remarks, Trump claimed that crime in Washington, D.C., was “virtually nothing” except for “lesser things” that “take place in the home they call crime.”
“They’ll do anything they can to find something,” he said. “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, ‘This was a crime,’ see, so now I can’t claim 100 percent.”
Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell, a survivor of childhood domestic abuse, said “this position from the president directly opposes” decades of efforts to remove stigma around domestic violence.
“Let me tell you, as someone who hid in a closet many times as a child, being tough on crime means keeping women and children safe in their own homes,” she said in a statement.
Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, another domestic violence survivor, called Trump’s remarks “deeply offensive and disturbing.”
“Trump has a long history of violence against women that makes his dismissiveness unsurprising,” said Moore, referencing dozens of allegations of abuse against the president. Trump has denied the accusations.
The president’ statements — delivered weeks before the 25th annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which coincides with the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act — appear to undermine what federal government agencies have long recognized as a national public health and safety crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least four in ten women and one in four men have experienced physical or sexual violence or stalking by an intimate partner.
Domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse and may include a pattern of abusive behaviors to gain and maintain power and control over a victim, including financial control, stalking and emotional abuse, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
The hotline fields up to 3,000 calls and messages a day from across the country.
“No matter what it looks like or where it happens, all forms of abuse are harmful whether they are considered a crime or not,” the group’s CEO Katie Ray-Jones told The Independent.
Domestic violence “is not a private matter or a misunderstanding,” said Pace Women’s Justice Center director Cindy J. Kanusher.
“It is abuse. It is a crime. And it must be treated with the seriousness it demands,” she told The Independent.
In Washington, roughly 47 percent of women and 43 percent of men have experienced intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence or stalking in their lifetimes, according to the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Women experiencing domestic violence are five times more likely to be killed by their abusers when their abuser has access to a gun, the group found. Nearly 60 percent of all domestic violence homicides in D.C. within the last four years were committed with a gun.
Downplaying the seriousness of domestic violence sends a “dangerous message” that reinforces fears among victims that their cases won’t be fully investigated and offenders not held accountable, Kanusher said.
“For survivors, being believed and taken seriously can mean the difference between safety and continued harm,” Kanusher told The Independent. “When abuse is normalized or trivialized, it creates a climate where victims are silenced and justice is denied. We know how quickly ‘something that happens in the home’ can escalate into tragedy.”
Pressed for comment on the president’s remarks, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that Trump “wasn’t referring to crimes” but claimed that crimes are “made up and reported” in an attempt to “undermine the great work that the federal task force is doing to reduce crime in Washington, D.C.”
Trump’s remarks also underscore how his administration’s sweeping cuts to federal agencies has threatened programs that support survivors of domestic abuse as well as sexual assault and other acts of violence.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has threatened to cut millions of dollars in grants to domestic violence advocacy groups and required service providers to agree to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A lawsuit from the National Women’s Law Center on behalf of 17 state domestic violence and sexual assault organizations argues that restrictions imposed by the administration illegally interfere with the Violence Against Women Act.
Trump’s statement that crime has been all but eliminated in the capital city under his federal takeover also fails under scrutiny.
The day before his remarks, police in the district reported one homicide, six motor vehicle thefts, two assaults with a deadly weapon, four robberies, and more than 30 other thefts.
If you or someone you know needs support, trained advocates at the National Domestic Violence Hotline are available 24 hours a day across the United States and territories at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), by texting “START"”to 88788, or online.
