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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDER

A restraining order is a Court order issued to prevent the recurrence of acts of abuse by a
batterer. Under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, abuse is defined as any of the
following:

Intentionally or recklessly causing or attempting to cause bodily injury.
Sexual assault.
Placing a person in reasonable apprehension of imminent serious bodily injury to
that person or to another.
Engaging in any behavior that has been or could be enjoined such as molesting,
attacking, striking, stalking, threatening, battering, harassing, telephoning,
destroying personal property, contacting the other by mail or otherwise, disturbing
the peace of the other party.

The act(s) of abuse/violence must be recent, within thirty days, and the batterer must be a
spouse, ex-spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, someone with whom the
victim has or has had a dating relationship, an immediate family member (mother, father, in-
laws, siblings, adult children), or a person with whom a party has a child/ren together. A
victim that is a target of abuse but does not have the necessary relationship to the batterer
may file a civil harassment restraining order, discussed below.

The restraining order can include the following: restraints on personal conduct by the
batterer; orders for the batterer to stay-away from the victim's home/work and/or children's
school; orders for the batterer to be removed from the residence; child custody and
visitation and support orders and other miscellaneous orders.

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