Domestic Violence Advocacy Consortium Report on Gender-Based Violence in Santa Clara County

DVAM Infographic Executive Summary

The Domestic Violence Advocacy Consortium (DVAC) represents the five domestic violence confidential victim services providers in Santa Clara County: Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Community Solutions, Maitri, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, and YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley. DVAC is releasing this infographic and annual report to commemorate the DV Awareness Month, October 2025 and to educate and raise awareness of the prevalence of intimate partner violence in our community.

This infographic and report reflect the collective data of services provided to adult and child survivors of intimate partner violence served by DVAC member organizations. These numbers are not reflective of the unreported cases of intimate partner violence; they are merely the lowest estimate of violence in our county.

IPV Survivor Services

With more than 225 years of combined experience, DVAC’s member agencies each bring as many as five decades of trusted, community-based service that includes crisis intervention, emergency housing, legal advocacy, mental health wellness, and financial empowerment among others. From July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025, DVAC member organizations responded to 23,460 crisis calls, and provided culturally responsive support services to 7,838 survivors with different services.

Emergency Housing Statistics

Emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, and motel vouchers provided housing to 831 clients for a total of 37,530 bed nights. In addition to emergency housing support, trained advocates provided support with risk assessment and safety planning, support groups, therapy, legal and criminal justice advocacy, economic empowerment, flexible financial assistance, and more. Each of these services is provided long-term and ongoing as needed for each survivor and their family.

For Maria (a monolingual Spanish-speaking domestic violence survivor), having an advocate by her side was life-changing. The bilingual/bicultural advocate provided emotional support during the initial hotline call, helped Maria develop a comprehensive safety plan, and connected her with a confidential shelter, legal assistance, therapy for her and her children, and immigration and family law attorneys. Then there is the story of Silvia, where the impact of advocacy became visible within a short time. When Silvia began case management, she was staying in a shelter, facing serious health challenges, and overwhelmed by navigating large systems alone. With the guidance of an advocate, Silvia identified achievable goals such as finding stable housing, pursuing educational opportunities, and creating step-by-step action plans. Silvia’s progress, and the progress of so many others, would not be possible without long-term case management and advocacy, yet the loss of funding means survivors like Sharon will no longer have the chance to move beyond survival toward true stability and independence.

In the past year, 85.2% of the survivors we provided services had extremely low household income below 30% of poverty level. Direct financial assistance and free services at the agencies were critical for our clients.

There were 1,124 additional requests for emergency housing via our hotlines that were unmet due to shelter and hotel capacity. In addition to financial limitations to meeting survivor needs, our agencies are also facing capacity limitations due to understaffing and the high cost of living in this area.

As a collective movement, DVAC agencies partnered with  justice partners and healthcare leaders throughout the year and received referrals for service requests on a regular basis. We attended to survivors with disability, language assistance and additional needs stemming from poly–victimization. Most of all, in a year filled with uncertainty over funding, immigration safety and federal administrative regulations aimed at nonprofits in general, DVAC stood united and provided safety net for survivors in Santa Clara County wherever possible.