Definitions of Domestic Violence - Penobscot Nation

Defined in Domestic Violence Civil Laws
Citation: Tribal Code Tit. 14, § 3

'Abuse' means the occurrence of one or more of the following acts: 

• Attempting to cause or causing bodily injury or offensive physical contact, including sexual assaults 
• Recklessly or knowingly attempting to place or place another in fear of bodily injury through any course of conduct, including, but not limited to, threatening, harassing, or tormenting behavior 
• Compelling a person by force, threat of force, or intimidation to do either of the following:
  • To engage in conduct from which the person has a right or privilege to abstain
  • To abstain from conduct in which the person has a right to engage 
• Knowingly and substantially restricting the movements of another person without that person's consent or other lawful authority by any of the following: 
  • Removing that person from that person's residence, place of business, or school 
  • Moving that person a substantial distance from the vicinity where that person was found 
  • Confining that person for a substantial period either in the place where the restriction commences or in a place to which that person has been moved
• Communicating to a person a threat to commit, or to cause to be committed, an act of violence dangerous to human life against the person to whom the communication is made or to another person, where the natural and probable consequence of the threat, regardless of whether that consequence in fact occurs, is to place the person to whom the threat is communicated, or the person against whom the threat is made, in reasonable fear that the act will be committed
• Communicating to a person a threat to commit, or to cause to be committed, an act of violence against any animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held by either party or a minor party residing in the household, where the natural and probable consequence of the threat, regardless whether that consequence in fact occurs, is to place the person to whom the threat is communicated in reasonable fear that the act will be committed
• Stalking or following a person 
• Using language or behavior that serves no legitimate purpose and is intended to be intimidating, humiliating, threatening, frightening, or otherwise harassing, including language or behavior directed at or referencing a person's culture, heritage, religion, sacred or spiritual objects, cultural items, or regalia and that does or reasonably could intimidate, humiliate, threaten, frighten, or otherwise harass the individual to whom the conduct or language is directed
• Engaging in the unauthorized dissemination of private images 
• Engaging in sex trafficking 
• Engaging in economic abuse
• Engaging in harassment by a telephonic communication device

'Economic abuse' means causing or attempting to cause an individual to be financially dependent by maintaining control over the individual's financial resources, including, but not limited to, unauthorized or coerced use of credit or property, withholding access to money or credit cards, withholding some or all of court ordered child support without good cause, forbidding attendance at school or employment, stealing from or defrauding an individual of money or assets, exploiting the individual's resources for personal gain of the defendant, or withholding physical resources such as food, clothing, necessary medications, or shelter.

Defined in Child Abuse Reporting and Child Protection Laws

This issue is not addressed in the Tribal codes reviewed.

Defined in Criminal Laws
Citation: Tribal Code Ch. 32, § 3

The term 'child violence' means the use, threatened use, or attempted use of violence against a child proscribed by the criminal law of the Penobscot Nation. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 'child' means a person who has not yet reached age 18, except in the case of sexual abuse, the age specified by the criminal law of the Penobscot Nation.

The term 'dating violence' means any violation of the criminal law of the Penobscot Nation that is committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, as determined by the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

The term 'domestic violence' means any violation of the criminal law of the Penobscot Nation that is committed by any of the following:

• A current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim
• A person with whom the victim shares a child in common
• A person who is cohabitating with or who has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner
• A person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic- or family-violence laws of the Penobscot Nation

Persons Included in the Definitions
Citation: Tribal Code Tit. 14, § 3

'Dating partners' means individuals currently or formerly involved in dating each other, regardless of whether the individuals are or were sexual partners. It anticipates a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature, the existence of which shall be determined by the following: 

• The length of the relationship
• The type of relationship
• The frequency of interactions between the persons involved 

The term 'family or household members' means the following:

• Spouses or former spouses
• Parents and children, including parents of the same child and parents expecting a shared child
• Persons related by blood or marriage, whether they have lived together at any time or not
• Any other persons who are presently residing together or who have resided together in the same household within the past