Domestic Violence
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDERS AND CIVIL HARASSMENT ORDERS:
A domestic violence restraining order is a Court order issued to prevent the recurrence of acts of abuse by a batterer. Under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, abuse is defined as any of the following:
Intentionally or recklessly causing or attempting to cause bodily injury
Sexual assault
Placing a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to that person or to another
Engaging in any behavior that has been or could be enjoined such as molesting, attacking, striking, stalking, threatening, battering, harassing, telephoning, destroying personal property, contacting the other by mail or otherwise, disturbing the peace of the other party
The batterer must be:
A spouse
An ex-spouse
A boyfriend or girlfriend
An ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend
A person the victim is dating or has dated
An immediate family member (mother, father, in-laws, siblings, adult children, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter)
A person the victim has children with
A victim of abuse that does not have the necessary relationship to the batterer may file a civil harassment (behavior that annoys, threatens, alarms, intimidates, or puts one fearful for his/her safety) restraining order. The restraining order can include the following:
Restraints on personal conduct by the batterer
Orders for the batterer to stay away from the victim's home/work and/or children's school
Orders for the batterer to be removed from the residence
Child custody and visitation and support orders
Other miscellaneous orders
CIVIL HARASSMENT RESTRAINING ORDER
In general, civil harassment is abuse, threats of abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or serious harassment by someone you have not dated and do NOT have a close relationship with, like a neighbor, a roommate, or a friend (that you have never dated). It is also civil harassment if the abuse is from a family member that is not included in the list under domestic violence. So, for example, if the abuse is from an uncle or aunt, a niece or nephew, or a cousin, it is considered civil harassment and NOT domestic violence.
BELIEVE YOU’RE A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Elder Abuse
Abuse of an elder or a dependent adult is the abuse of:
Someone 65 years old or older
A dependent adult, who is someone between 18 and 64 that has certain mental or physical disabilities that keep him or her from being able to do normal activities or protect himself or herself
The law says elder or dependent adult abuse is:
Physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction (taking the person out of the state against his or her will), or other behavior that causes physical harm, pain, or mental suffering
Deprivation by a caregiver of things or services that the elder or dependent adult needs to avoid physical harm or mental suffering
Read more about the law in Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610