Definitions of Domestic Violence - Colorado

Defined in Domestic Violence Civil Laws
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 13-14-101

'Coercion' means compelling a person by force, threat of force, or intimidation to engage in conduct that the person has the right or privilege to abstain from, or to abstain from conduct in which the person has a right or privilege to engage.

'Contact' or 'contacting' means any interaction or communication with another person, directly or indirectly through a third party, and electronic and digital forms of communication, including, but not limited to, interaction or communication through social media.

'Domestic abuse' means any act, attempted act, or threatened act of violence, stalking, harassment, or coercion that is committed by any person against another person to whom the actor is currently or was formerly related, or whom the actor is living with or has lived with in the same domicile. 'Domestic abuse' may also include any act, attempted act, or threatened act of violence against any of the following:

• The minor children of either of the parties
• An animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by either of the parties or by a minor child of either of the parties when the threat, act, or attempted act is intended to coerce, control, punish, intimidate, or exact revenge upon either of the parties or a minor child of either of the parties

'Domestic violence,' commonly known as 'intimate partner violence,' means a pattern of violent behavior or an act, attempted act, or threat of violence, stalking, harassment, or coercion that is committed by a person against another person whom the actor is involved or has been involved with in an intimate relationship. A sexual relationship may be an indicator of an intimate relationship, but it is never a necessary condition for finding an intimate relationship.

'Sexual violence' means an unwanted or nonconsensual sexual behavior, act, or attempted act, or threatened act, including, but not limited to, unlawful sexual behavior, as described in § 16-11.7-102(3), by a person against another person, regardless of the relationship between the actor and the petitioner.

Defined in Child Abuse Reporting and Child Protection Laws

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Defined in Criminal Laws
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 18-6-800.3

'Domestic violence' means an act or threatened act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship. 'Domestic violence' also includes any other crime against a person or against property, including an animal, or any municipal ordinance violation against a person or against property, including an animal, when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship.

Persons Included in the Definitions
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 18-6-800.3

'Intimate relationship' means a relationship between spouses, former spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or persons who are both the parents of the same child, regardless of whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time.