Ohio domestic violence resources centers have faced rising requests for services

Two other women have leveled allegations against Miller. The congressman has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and said he believes the ethics investigation will end in his favor.

Even as fellow Ohio politicians on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about Miller staying in the reelection race for his seat representing Ohio’s 7th district in Congress, Miller has vowed to remain in the fight. The deadline for him to withdraw from the race and allow Ohio Republicans to replace him was Aug. 10.

In a 20-minute live stream on his X account earlier this month, he pushed back against the claims and public opinion of them.

At one point during the live stream, Miller said “if I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?”

“Would she have invited me to spend an afternoon at the playground with her and our daughter,” he went on. “Would she have written that we were in a friendlier place? No, she wouldn’t have, ladies and gentlemen.”

Domestic violence resource providers in the state say complexities about the issue can often be oversimplified in public conversations. Abuse can come from many sources, including physical violence, but also financial control, isolation from friends and family, and emotional manipulation.

“Survivors often continue to care for or stay with a partner between incidents out of fear, love, hope for change, or to protect their children, but that is not evidence that abuse didn’t happen,” the Ohio Domestic Violence Network said in a statement after Miller’s comments. “It’s one of the most common ways survivors are discredited when they come forward.”

In Miller’s district

Resource centers in Miller’s 7th Congressional District are providing services to a diverse and ever-increasing population.

In the first half of 2026, the Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center that serves Summit and Medina counties saw a 27% increase in responses to hospitals for reports of intimate partner violence.

The center, which provides services at no cost, has seen an increase in clients served, and 23% more participants in their domestic violence prevention and outreach programs.

Already since January, the 24/7 support and crisis intervention hotline hosted by the center has received more than 3,500 calls.

“So, across the board, we’re just seeing an increase in demand,” said Teresa Stafford-Wright, chief executive officer at the center. “We have constantly seen an increase year after year for our services.”

The Ohio Domestic Violence Network’s 76 local programs provided services to nearly 75,000 survivors in 2025, with more than 120,000 call, texts, and chats answered, according to the network.

State shelters housed nearly 9,500 individuals, with half of those being children. But shelters are reaching capacity levels and lack  staffing to serve all those asking for help.

According to the network, more than 50% of all Ohio survivors seeking shelter were turned away last year.

Stafford-Wright said the survivors coming into shelters in Summit and Medina counties are dealing with more complicated needs on top of the trauma of domestic violence.

“There’s a lack of affordable housing that we’re seeing, which keeps survivors from being able to get away, there’s a lack of income, and on top of that you can have substance abuse issues as well,” Stafford-Wright said.

The impact of domestic violence is felt among all cultures and populations, creating a need for resources to help with language barriers, navigation of immigration issues and other legal hurdles amid domestic violence issues.

“A lot of the community members, if they’re dealing with domestic violence or human trafficking, they may need family law, they may also need victims of crime law, they may need assistance with immigration law,” said Anna Chen, manager of communications and civic engagement for Asian Services in Action.

“A lot of these survivors are, unfortunately, heavily taken advantage of by their abusers.”

Asian Services in Action is a social health and legal services agency that has a strong immigrant and refugee population. It’s also located in Miller’s district.

The organization staffs a federally qualified health center, provides civic engagement, and voter education as well.

Also included in their services is Ahimsa, a confidential service for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual assault. Ahimsa is a Sanskrit word for the concept of avoiding harm and violence.

“We were seeing that there were a lot of survivors in the immigrant-refugee population, and they are barred out of a lot of the resources in Northeast Ohio, just because they don’t have the language accessibility that we do,” said Emily Henthorn, manager of government affairs for Asian Services in Action.

Helping survivors may even mean the identification of cultural norms that might cause hesitation in reporting intimate partner violence, from patriarchal beliefs and downplay of abuse, to a religious aversion to divorce.

“So there’s a lot of coaching these women to believe that the abuse is happening, and it is real, because they tend to downplay, and … also we have to be very careful with confidentiality,” Henthorn said.

Looking ahead

Many centers rely on federal grant funding for the vast majority of their revenue, and some receive state funding, along with individual donations.

The Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center’s funding is made up of about 75% grant funding, and without that funding, the center would have a lot of trouble continuing to provide the services, especially at no cost to the individuals.

“We’re hoping that in this new climate that we remain an organization that is seen as competent and is able to maneuver through the changing times,” Stafford-Wright said.

Henthorn said even more of their funding comes from grants, and they receive some from the Violence Against Women Act. But because of the population they serve, they’ve also seen a decrease in federal funds specifically going to their immigrant and refugee services.

“If we’re going to make it through the next few years of the Trump administration, we’re going to have to have more donations,” Henthorn said.

Advocates see the increase in public attention as a way to perhaps show those dealing with violence – or who may know someone that might be experiencing it – a way forward.

While headlines can bring attention to one particular case, Stafford-Wright said it’s important to remember that the person next door may be dealing with the same thing, and having someone that can help when the time is right will be vital.

“Try not to tell the person what they need to do in this moment, because sometimes you may alienate them,” Stafford-Wright said. “Definitely know the resources, be a listening ear, and stay close to that person.”

High-profile accusations can result in more people coming forward with their own experiences, and Henthorn warns against narratives that experiences are fictional or used for attention. Many times, it’s as simple as a lack of recognition of the problem, or the resources available.

“On average, it takes seven attempts to leave an abusive situation before a survivor gets out,” Henthorn said. “And a lot of times in those seven times, they’re seeing health care providers for injuries, they’re filing police reports, but people just aren’t seeing the signs.”

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