SCCADVASA

05/29/2026

An estimated 1 in 10 older Americans experience elder abuse. Save the date and join SCCADVASA on June 12th for the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day ( ) Walk!

➡️ Learn more and register: http://bit.ly/49wchWx

05/28/2026

SCCADVASA Legal Assistance to Victims Program Attorney Teresa Van Vlake traveled to Dallas last week for the 21st Annual Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW).

The event featured more than 250 workshops, case studies, and interactive sessions focused on multidisciplinary strategies to respond to violence against women while encouraging a coordinated community response.

05/27/2026

🙌 SCCADVASA is grateful for the continued support of the South Carolina Bar Foundation! Our 2026 grant award will fund SCCADVASA’s Legal Assistance to Victims Program, which provides legal services to survivors across South Carolina, and our Language Access Program’s efforts to expand support for bilingual professionals in victim services.

In 2025, our legal team connected 436 survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and harassment with attorneys for direct legal services – at no cost to the survivor.

We are also excited to receive a two-year Impact Grant to support an innovative, collaborative project to strengthen Domestic Violence-Legal Aid Partnerships throughout the state.

SCCADVASA member organizations Project REST, The Laurens County SAFE Home, Sistercare, Pathways to Healing of South Carolina, Hopeful Horizons, and the Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties have also been awarded 2026 SC Bar Foundation grant funding to support their legal advocacy efforts in helping survivors and their families.

⚖️ Grantee Spotlight: SCCADVASA

SCCADVASA has been a leading voice for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, advancing prevention through advocacy, education, and collaboration. Their impact reaches statewide providing direct services in local communities, along with strong partnerships across the country.

🔗 Learn more about their impact on our website: https://scbarfoundation.org/grantees/

05/26/2026

Financial abuse is a common tactic used by abusers to gain power and control over survivors and is often cited by victims as the main reason they stayed in or returned to an abusive relationship.

It can include controlling a survivor's access to finances, sabotaging their employment, ruining their credit, stealing their identity, or coercing them to commit financial fraud.

The National Network to End Domestic Violence's Financial Abuse Toolkit offers survivor resources including a financial safety planning guide: https://nnedv.org/resources-library/financial-abuse-toolkit/

05/25/2026

While the SCCADVASA offices are closed in observance of Memorial Day, we know that domestic violence and sexual assault can occur at any time. If you need help, our member organizations have hotlines that are staffed 24/7.

➡️ Find an interactive map of providers on our website: sccadvasa.org/get-help

☎️ Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)

☎️ Call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

05/21/2026

Intimate partner violence is a leading cause of death for Black women between the ages of 18 and 34. Women living in rural areas can face greater challenges to accessing resources and support.

Join Ujima: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community on Thursday, May 28th for “Supporting Black Survivors in Rural Communities,” a capacity-building webinar to explore the unique challenges faced by survivors in rural communities and hear strategies for culturally specific safety planning.

➡️ Learn more and register: https://ujimacommunity.coalitionmanager.org/eventmanager/trainingeventregistration/create/216

05/19/2026

Join us for the next SCKnowMore webinar on Friday, June 26 as Belle Torek, attorney and Technology Safety Specialist at The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV)’s Safety Net Project, shares how sextortion works in practice, the tactics perpetrators use, and the real-world impacts on survivors. This session will explore emerging trends, including the growing role of AI-generated content, and examine the current legal and policy landscape shaping responses to this form of abuse.

➡️ Learn more and register: https://sc.coalitionmanager.org/eventmanager/trainingevent/details/1347

05/18/2026

Domestic violence shelters, r**e crisis centers, and other programs are experiencing federal funding delays. Applications for Family Violence Prevention and Services Act ( ) funding which are generally due at the end of January are not yet posted. Grant funds for programs funded by the Office Against Women ( ) that were to begin on October 1st, 2025, have not yet been released. These delays leave programs serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence in limbo. Additional delays will force these organizations to lay off staff, reduce services, and close their doors. It is critical that DOJ and HHS immediately publish these NOFOs and expedite the release of congressionally appropriated funds. Survivors can’t wait.

05/15/2026

SCCADVASA applauds this week's decision by the SC Court of Appeals in the case of Major v. Major, which confirmed “that the Harassment and Stalking Statute gives magistrate courts subject matter jurisdiction to hear requests for a restraining order regardless of the marital status between the parties.”

The case underscores a systematic, statewide problem of "ping-ponging" married victims of stalking and harassment between family and magistrate courts, often leaving married victims with no legal protection from escalating abusive behavior.

SCCADVASA is grateful for Ms. Major’s continuing courage to demand her right to legal protection, the multi-year effort of attorney Brett L. Stevens who provided pro bono representation, and our partners, the USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law Domestic Violence Clinic, South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCVAN), Sistercare, and Project R.E.S.T., for their work submitting an amicus brief to the Court to help ensure that all survivors of stalking and harassment have access to civil restraining orders.

➡️ Read our full statement: https://www.sccadvasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/SCCADVASA-Statement-Major-v-Major.pdf

05/14/2026

✨ We were delighted to gather with our member organizations, partners, and advocates yesterday for SCCADVASA’s annual luncheon to share highlights from our 2025 Annual Impact Report.

“As our organization enters its 45th year of standing with survivors, we remain committed to our vision of a South Carolina free from domestic violence and sexual abuse,” says SCCADVASA Executive Director Sara Barber. “We learn lessons from the past, draw on the wisdom of victims/survivors, advocates, and communities, and invest in the creation of programs and initiatives that can build responsive systems of support and increase public safety.”

➡️ View the annual report:https://www.sccadvasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/AnnualReport-2025.pdf