Next month marks the 25th annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which coincides with the 2000 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. They have also laid off a top official and several teams working on the issue, threatening to destabilize domestic violence services and prevention efforts nationwide. Some groups focused on combating domestic violence criticized the president’s comments. Per federal and local statute, domestic violence is a crime and one that is not only a precursor to domestic violence homicides, but also a common factor in community violence, including mass shootings, where perpetrators often have a history of committing domestic violence,” said Dawn Dalton, the coalition’s executive director. “Trump has a long history of violence against women that makes his dismissiveness unsurprising.”Rep. Debbie Dingell, another survivor of domestic violence, said Trump’s comments threaten to set back the clock on the national conversation around domestic violence.