The Puerto Rico government has failed to develop a strategy to ensure the continuity of the work done by the island’s nine shelters for survivors of domestic violence. Those shelters are already grappling with the fallout of an expected $856,984.88 reduction in federal funding.

The funding shortfall has reduced the availability of beds and forced cuts to staffing and work hours, disrupting prevention programs since September 2025, when organizations had already anticipated the cut and began preparing for it.

With no government initiatives to shore up support for survivors of gender-based violence and their children, Puerto Rico’s only nine shelters serving this population, all part of the NGO Domestic Violence Shelter Network (Red de Albergues de Violencia Doméstica), have taken on a vital role in responding to a severe, ongoing crisis.

They include the two shelters operated by Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, as well as Hogar Ruth, Casa de la Bondad, Hogar Nueva Mujer Santa María de la Merced, Casa de Todos, Hogar la Piedad and Casa Protegida de Mujeres y Niños, which also operates two shelters: Capromuni-I and Capromuni-II.

The nine shelters are run by seven nonprofit organizations and provide a total of 180 beds.

Coraly León Morales, chairwoman of the board of the National Network of Gender Violence Shelters (Red Nacional de Albergues de Violencia de Género), said that while some federal reductions were anticipated, local officials never put a plan in place to address the “gap” in funding allocations — effectively shifting the budget deficit onto the organizations that operate the shelters.

“So far, no shelter has closed, but they could be operating at a deficit. What we’ve been doing since 2025 is sounding the alarm about this shortfall so we can develop joint strategies that guarantee services,” León Morales said. “This could reach the point where a shelter really would have to close, and we’re working to make sure that doesn’t happen.” She said the shelters continue to adjust and are trying to identify new sources of income that won’t jeopardize the continuity of services.

Earlier this year, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice sought to transfer $120,000 to the Office of the Women’s Advocate (Oficina de la Procuradora de las Mujeres) so it could distribute the funds among the shelters. While it was not enough to cover the full deficit, it would have offered some relief. But the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico did not authorize the transfer, two sources told the Gender Investigative Unit. The board declined to confirm that account and referred the request to the Office of Management and Budget, which in turn said it would have to be processed through Puerto Rico’s Transparency Act — a request that has been filed and could take up to 20 business days to be answered.

Shortly afterward, the Department of Justice opened a $2,047,317 grant competition for all organizations that provide services to survivors of domestic violence — not just shelters. The application period closed last Wednesday.

León Morales said shelters are now preparing and submitting proposals to seek the funds, but she noted that the government could have made a direct allocation to the shelters. She emphasized that competitive grant rounds will not solve the underlying fiscal problem.

“If the government doesn’t establish a strategy for continuous funding for shelters, we will face this same situation next fiscal year, and the next — indefinitely,” León Morales said. “The state needs to create a recurring funding strategy and recognize shelters as essential services. That’s what isn’t happening.”

The women’s advocate, Astrid Piñeiro Vázquez, was not available to respond to questions from the Gender Unit.

Another Initiative to Ease the Crisis Is Rejected

Amid the grim outlook, and during the week commemorating March 8 — International Women’s Day — the Legislature dealt another blow to the shelters. The Senate Finance Committee issued an unfavorable report on Joint Resolution 0011, which sought to allocate $1 million from the General Fund in the government’s operating budget to the organizations that make up the Shelter Network, to relieve the fiscal crisis. The measure was introduced in January 2025 by Sen. Ada Álvarez Conde of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD, in Spanish).

In its negative report, Sen. Migdalia Padilla Alvelo, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, argued that the legislation ordered an appropriation without an “identified” budget line item, and that the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico controls public spending through the approval of fiscal plans and certified budgets.

“The committee has a responsibility to carefully evaluate every measure before us, with the goal of advancing justice and the well-being of our citizens,” Padilla Alvelo, a member of the ruling New Progressive Party (PNP, in Spanish), said. “But it is also necessary to remain focused on the government’s fiscal plan, acting prudently when formulating conclusions and making decisions.”

A Frustrating Blow to the Work of Protecting Lives

“We feel like we’ve been left on our own — not only the women, but also the organizations that are there on the front lines, fighting this battle,” said Lenna Ramírez Cintrón, executive director of Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, in an interview with the Gender Investigative Unit, an alliance between Todas and the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI).

At Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, she said, areas such as education and prevention services have been hit as the organization has been forced to cut staff hours. In other programs, employees who have resigned have not been replaced. Many of these services, she added, “have to be provided at any hour of the day because violence doesn’t warn us — violence doesn’t stop.”

Meals for residents, once covered with federal funds, are now being paid for with the organization’s own fundraising revenue, leaving other operational areas without resources, she said. And as Puerto Rico recently confronted an influenza outbreak, the shelter has also had to cover the cost of hygiene and disinfection supplies that were previously paid for with the funding stream that was eliminated.

“Saying that women’s lives matter has to be backed by action. There has to be a clear public policy, and it has to be a budget priority,” Ramírez Cintrón said. “In government discussions and action plans, there has to be work to ensure these services continue.”

She stressed that addressing gender-based violence — a human rights violation and a matter of public health and justice — is the responsibility of the state.

“They can’t go on delegating this responsibility to organizations that are already the first responders,” Ramírez Cintrón said. “We’re there in crises, we’re there in emergencies, and we do so much with so little. There’s a demand for stability so women know that when they need help, there will be an answer — and it will be there consistently. For organizations like ours, working on something this complex, it also matters to know there is a government and a country that stand behind us and believe women’s safety should be a guaranteed right,” she added.

Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos was the first shelter for women survivors of gender-based violence in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. It was founded in 1979 by the feminist leaders Mercedes Rodríguez López and Mary Anne Maldonado. In 2025, it provided refuge to 409 women and children. Through its prevention and education initiatives, it also reached another 4,107 people across the island.

Puerto Rico’s Justice Secretary, Lourdes L. Gómez Torres, did not agree to an interview with the Gender Investigative Unit. On March 4, the agency issued a news release saying it would distribute an additional $11,404,201 in nonrecurring funds from the Victim Assistance Formula Grant Program (VOCA). But to access these state and federal funds, the nine shelters — the only NGOs in Puerto Rico that provide emergency services to survivors of gender-based violence and with a proven track record — must compete against other entities, including some that were created only recently.

VOCA funds are intended to support government agencies, municipalities and nonprofit organizations that provide services more broadly to crime victims in Puerto Rico.

Funding reductions have also hit Hogar Ruth, whose emergency shelter saw a steep 59% cut in VOCA funds last year. After receiving about $361,000 previously, it received just $149,000 in 2025 — an amount that will carry the organization only through March 31.

Lisdel Flores Barger, Hogar Ruth’s executive director, said VOCA funding does not cover administrative expenses or facility maintenance. Instead, it is limited to direct services for residents — including the salaries of social workers, facilitators, psychologists, attorneys and the shelter’s maintenance staff.

Flores Barger said she finds it striking that, amid scarce resources, the Department of Justice does not prioritize allocating available funds to organizations with a proven record, both in the quality of their services and in their fiscal management of grants.

“I’m not dismissing anyone’s work,” said Flores Barger, a social worker who has spent 17 years at the shelter. “It’s simply a question of who makes these decisions, how they’re made, and what safeguards are used so shelters aren’t financially stripped of what they need to operate.”

With March 31 approaching, Hogar Ruth is now fighting for its own survival. “If shelters had to close, there would be more women killed and devastating consequences,” she said. “We can’t afford to shut our doors. I wouldn’t forgive myself if a woman dies because Hogar Ruth is closed.”

She said the organization is working to secure other revenue streams and stretching the donations it receives to keep services going. But, she added, the government is losing sight of a core responsibility: “We have a responsibility to sustain our operations and manage our organizations, but the state has an inescapable responsibility to provide direct services to victims of crime and to ensure their safety and protection.”

Flores Barger also pointed to data from the Gender Equity Observatory (Observatorio de Equidad de Género), which ranks Puerto Rico second in femicides in Latin America, with a rate of five femicides per 100,000 women, surpassed only by Guatemala. Still, she said, the services provided by shelters for survivors are not recognized as essential. “That’s why we’re not included in the government’s budget with recurring funding — which is what should be happening.”

She referenced a conversation shelter representatives had in early February with the Secretary of Justice.

“Now it’s in her hands, because we understand that the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico did not want to approve work plans that both she and the women’s advocate presented to address this deficit,” Flores Barger said.

“I can’t tell a victim of sexual assault who is receiving psychological services, ‘I’m so sorry, but as of March 31 I won’t be able to keep providing care,’ and then just leave it to chance,” she added. “That’s a lack of empathy and sensitivity. It’s failing to understand a trauma-informed model, and it’s failing someone who has opened an emotional Pandora’s box — and then abandoning her. I can’t wrap my head around how agencies and the State don’t understand this: there are priorities. I can’t flip a switch on a survivor and tell her that on March 31 her counseling ends,” the executive director of Hogar Ruth said.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

Coraly León Morales, chairwoman of the board of the National Network of Gender Violence Shelters, warned that some shelters have been unable to renew staff contracts because of the cuts. Others, unwilling to interrupt services, have chosen to cover the deficit with their general operating funds — effectively draining the organizations’ reserves.

“Others have had to reduce the number of women they can house because if they don’t have a full staff, they can’t fill every bed,” León Morales said. “That reduction happens because when a family is admitted to a shelter, there has to be dedicated staff assigned to support them. There are facilitators who take on that role, social workers who manage the case and develop a service plan. The family receives an entire range of services, and if the staffing isn’t complete, shelters have to reduce the number of families they take in because they won’t be able to provide the same level of support to everyone. There are also safety issues inside the shelter,” she said.

In 2025, the nine shelters took in 570 survivors and minors. In 2024, they served 589 survivors and minors — a 3% decrease. In both years, the Puerto Rico Police Bureau recorded more than 8,000 domestic violence incidents.

A Documented Lack of Urgency

In May of last year, the Gender Investigative Unit asked Astrid Piñeiro Vázquez, the women’s advocate, about what was then a proposal by Donald Trump’s government to cut federal funding for organizations that serve survivors of gender-based violence.

At the time, the women’s advocate lacked a clear plan.

“I wouldn’t want us to be alarmed,” Pinero Vázquez said then. “A fairly significant reduction is being proposed, but because I know the process, I wouldn’t want us to be alarmed, because I know those numbers are going to change.”

She also said she had asked the Puerto Rico Legislature to increase her office’s budget allocation to $9.6 million from $4.6 million — though the final appropriation was $5.3 million.

Proposal Seeks to Create a Steady Stream of Funding

In an effort to secure recurring funding, León Morales said the group recently presented the Puerto Rico Department of Justice secretary and the women’s advocate with the network’s “Vida Segura” proposal, which would impose a 5% tax on firearm sales to generate permanent funding for shelters serving survivors of gender-based and sexual violence. She said neither official offered an opinion on the proposal, but both agreed to review it and said they were considering other options.

Based on the network’s estimates, the proposed tax would generate about $1 million a year.

“Shelters have always operated in a state of precarity because funding is unstable — there is no ongoing, dedicated stream of support,” León Morales said, defending the proposed tax.

Some feminist groups have argued that the proposal is contradictory, pointing to broad agreement that lawmakers should further restrict access to firearms. But León Morales, a social worker, defended the measure, citing experience in the United States and elsewhere where similar policies have been adopted.

“Historically, taxes have been used as a way to reduce the use of something,” León Morales said. “For example, in the United States and Puerto Rico, cigarette taxes make the product less accessible while also generating revenue to support people with cancer. The same is true with alcohol. In most countries and states, public coffers are filled through taxes.”

She said a similar firearms tax has been implemented in places such as Colorado, where the levy is projected to generate $39 million a year in revenue.

“We hope this helps raise awareness about the role firearms play in gender-based violence — particularly femicides in Puerto Rico — and that we can establish a tax that supports the continuity of services for victims of gender-based violence,” she said, adding that the network plans to formally present the proposal to senators and representatives.

León Morales said the Vida Segura proposal is designed to create a reliable, ongoing source of funding.

She estimated that a shelter needs a minimum annual budget of about $2 million to operate at full capacity. Today, she said, most operate on budgets of less than $500,000.

The president of the Shelter Network’s board said the shelters work to ensure survivors have continuous access to therapeutic care, legal services and advocacy, as well as psychosocial support for both mothers and their minor children. She noted that two of the shelters operate child development programs grounded in the Montessori approach, aimed at addressing adverse childhood experiences and reversing or minimizing the impact of trauma. She added that once immediate safety concerns are addressed and survivors are stabilized, some shelters also offer temporary or permanent housing programs.

León Morales said some shelters provide outpatient services for survivors, and that the network’s nine service centers are located “across all corners” of Puerto Rico.

Opposition to Turning Shelters Into a Private Business

Even as shelters stretch limited resources to support survivors amid budget cuts, La Fortaleza introduced legislation in 2025 that would shift responsibility for housing survivors of gender-based violence through public-private partnership agreements. Despite objections from the Shelter Network, the Office of the Women’s Advocate supported the proposal.

In opposing the measure, the Shelter Network warned that public-private partnership projects could jeopardize the free services survivors receive, put at risk the federal funding shelters rely on, and undermine victims’ safety.

The controversial administration bill was approved last year in the Senate (Senate Bill 430), over the objections of minority caucuses. In April 2025, it was sent to the House of Representatives as House Bill 415, where it appears to have stalled in the Government Committee.