Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, or economic. It could also be psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. It can include any behavior that intimidates, manipulates, humiliates, isolates, frightens, coerces, threatens, or hurts someone.

While domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity, women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence. In fact, statistics report that 1 in 3 women have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. For men, this ratio is 1 to 4.

Florida Domestic Violence Statutes

Florida’s Domestic Violence Statutes are found in Section 741.28 of the Florida Statutes. These statutes provide a legal framework for addressing domestic violence. The statutes define domestic violence as “any assault, battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, kidnapping, or other felony or misdemeanor crime against a person by a current or former spouse of the person, by a person with whom the person shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the person as a spouse, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the person under the domestic or family violence protection act, or by any other relative of the person as defined in section 741.28.”

The statute recognizes domestic violence as a serious crime.