Definitions of Domestic Violence - District of Columbia

Defined in Domestic Violence Civil Laws
Citation: Ann. Code § 16-1001

The term 'intrafamily offense' means either of the following:

• An offense punishable as a criminal offense against an intimate partner, a family member, or a household member
• An offense punishable as cruelty to animals against an animal that an intimate partner, family member, or household member owns, possesses, or controls

Defined in Child Abuse Reporting and Child Protection Laws

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Defined in Criminal Laws

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Persons Included in the Definitions
Citation: Ann. Code § 16-1001

'Family member' means a person to whom the offender is related by blood, adoption, legal custody, marriage, or domestic partnership, or who is the child of an intimate partner.

'Household member' means a person with whom, in the past year, the offender shares or has shared a mutual residence and has maintained a close relationship, beyond mere acquaintances, rendering application of the statute appropriate. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term 'close relationship' does not include a relationship based solely on a landlord-tenant relationship.

'Intimate partner' means a person to whom any of the following apply:

• To whom the offender is or was married
• With whom the offender is or was in a domestic partnership
• With whom the offender has a child in common
• With whom the offender is, was, or is seeking to be in a romantic, dating, or sexual relationship