10/30/2025
𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐌𝐃 — [𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓] — HER Resiliency Center (“HER”), a nationally recognized nonprofit that supports survivors of trauma, abuse, and exploitation, and its founder Natasha Guynes have filed a lawsuit against Governor Wes Moore, the State of Maryland, and Dorothy J. Lennig, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy (GOCPP). The suit alleges unlawful retaliation, breach of contract, and violations of state and federal constitutional rights following HER’s public criticism of the administration’s mishandling of federal victim support funds.
𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬
For nearly a decade, HER has been a respected and vital link to stability and safety for over 3,750 women in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area. It provides trauma-informed case management, workforce development, mental health workshops, and direct street outreach for victims of human trafficking, s*xual exploitation, and domestic violence. In fact, Guynes, who founded the organization in 2015, will be honored at the Daily Record’s Empowering Women event this Thursday, October 30, 2025.
Despite years of successful partnership with Maryland’s Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy, the state has now refused to reimburse HER for more than $218,000 of Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) backed funds, jeopardizing the organization’s ability to serve women in crisis.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘎𝘶𝘺𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘏𝘌𝘙’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘹 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵.”
𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭
The lawsuit claims that after Guynes publicly raised concerns about GOCPP’s arbitrary and inconsistent practices and retaliation, internal communications reportedly described Guynes’ social media posts as “becoming a problem.” Soon after, HER’s reimbursement requests were denied with an explanation that contradicted the agreement, and its approved funding was nearly cut in half.
HER’s legal complaint alleges violations of the First Amendment, Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), claiming that Maryland officials used financial leverage to silence criticism and obstruct essential victim services.
𝐀 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬
Guynes’ case reflects a growing concern among victim advocacy organizations that the state’s handling of VOCA funds is opaque and politically influenced. HER’s lawsuit contends that GOCPP has acted “arbitrarily and capriciously,” freezing reimbursements, moving goalposts on eligibility, and undermining programs that serve Maryland’s most vulnerable.
“𝘏𝘌𝘙 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘞. 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺.”
𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞
The complaint, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, seeks compensatory damages, reinstatement of funds, and injunctive relief compelling the State of Maryland to comply with federal law and to cease retaliatory practices against victim service providers.
Guynes and HER are calling for greater transparency, oversight, and respect for organizations that give voice to survivors who have been silenced for too long.
“𝘏𝘌𝘙 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘺𝘯𝘦𝘴. “𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”
𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞: https://www.herresiliency.org/suspension-of-services/
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