Who does the Domestic Violence Act protect?
The statute protects not only present spouses but also former spouses. Additionally, the Act embraces acts “by a person of the opposite sex with whomthe aggrieved party lives or has lived as if married”, persons “related as parents and children, including others acting in loco parentis to a minor child, or as grandparents and grandchildren”, persons who “have a child in common”, person who “are current or former household members, and “persons of the opposite sex who are in a dating relationship or have been in a dating relationship. A current marriage is, therefore, not a prerequisite to bringing an action under the domestic violence statute. For purposes of this statute, a dating relationship is one wherein the parties are romantically involved over time and on a continuous basis during the course of the relationship. A casual acquaintance or ordinary fraternization between persons in a business or social context is not a dating relationship.
