Read our Privacy noticeHours after the federal government began shutting down, lawyers with the Department of Justice fired off a series of court filings to freeze litigation in several high-profile cases — including a fight over funding for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Last month, a federal judge temporarily blocked the government from enforcing those requirements while the legal battle continues. One lawsuit targets the departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development, which handle grant funding for groups that support victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and people experiencing homelessness. In August, a federal judge overseeing a separate case blocked the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women — which distributes the Violence Against Women Act grants — from imposing conditions that were set to take effect that month. 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.