DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

There is no one definition of domestic violence that applies to all incidents of family abuse. Instead, different agencies and organizations have developed different working definitions. Relevant legislation defines domestic violence differently as well.

The Attorney General's Office defines family violence as follows:

The defendant or victim in a family violence case may be male or female, child or adult, or may be of the same sex. Family violence is any criminal offense or violation involving the threat of physical injury or harm; act of physical injury; homicide; sexual contact; penetration or intercourse; property damage; intimidation; endangerment; and unlawful restraint. The victim and defendant may be family members (10 Del. C. Section 901(a))*, ex-husband/wife, intimate cohabitants or former intimate cohabitants, boyfriend and girlfriend or ex-boyfriend and girlfriend. Family violence shall also include specific, enumerated criminal offenses and violations in which the defendant victimizes the individual who has a relationship with the defendant's significant other.

Delaware's Protection From Abuse Act defines domestic violence in a more limited fashion. Under this legislation, domestic violence is defined as acts of abuse between family members as defined in 10 Del. C. Section 901(9), former spouses, a man and woman living together with or without a child in common, or a man and woman living apart who have a child in common. Abuse is defined under the statute to include: causing or attempting to cause physical injury; threatening to cause physical injury; destroying property; trespassing; child abuse; unlawful imprisonment; or certain serious emotional abuse. This definition, however, does not cover many serious domestic violence cases.

Generally, domestic violence involves parties who are related by blood, by marriage or by some other intimate relationship. The parties can be brother and sister, parent and child, or grandparent and grandchild. But the parties may be related in many different ways, including couples that have ended their relationship, boyfriends and girlfriends, and same sex couples.

Domestic violence also includes a wide range of behaviors. Some acts of domestic violence are criminal offenses under Title 11 of the Delaware Code, such as assault, terroristic threatening, destruction of property, or sexual offenses. Other forms of domestic violence may not constitute criminal conduct, such as repeated insults and degradation, threats of suicide, or controlling access to the family's financial resources. Whether or not there has been a criminal offense, evidence of these behaviors indicates a pattern of abusive control. Even these non-criminal acts may have a devastating effect on the family.