What is domestic violence?

Domestic violence is defined as abuse or threats of abuse between two people who are in or have been in an intimate relationship (married or domestic partners, dating or used to date, live or lived together, or have a child together), or when there is violence between two people closely related by blood or by marriage.

Domestic violence laws consider the following to be abuse:

Physically hurting or trying to hurt someone, intentionally or recklessly;

Sexual assault;

Making someone reasonably afraid that they or someone else are about to be seriously hurt (like threats or promises to harm someone); OR

Behavior like harassing, stalking, threatening, or hitting someone; disturbing someone’s peace; or destroying someone’s personal property.

IMPORTANT: If you were abused by your partner before you were incarcerated and/or are afraid of your partner, it may help you to talk to a domestic violence counselor, even if you do not want (or are not sure if you want) to ask for legal protection.

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For domestic violence resources in your county, see http://www.cdph.ca.gov/
HealthInfo/injviosaf/Pages/ViolencePreventionResourceDirectory.aspx.

For domestic violence resources in tribal communities, visit http://www.cdph.ca.gov/
HealthInfo/injviosaf/Pages/ViolencePreventionResourceDirectory.aspx

Remember!

A court order is a legally enforceable decision made by a judge.