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               Congressional
            *   Research Service






Defining Domestic Violence



March 27, 2019

In 2018, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) changed the expansive domestic violence (DV)
definition that appeared on its website to the more narrow statutory definition used for grant programs.
There is some confusion as to the meaning and implication of OVW's change. In the 116th Congress,
legislation has been introduced that would amend the definition used in the Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA)   grant programs-the Violence Against Women  Reauthorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 1585), if
enacted, would amend and expand the definition of DV.

Federal Definitions of DV

The federal government defines DV in different ways and for different purposes. Under criminal statute,
18 U.S.C. §2261 defines a DV offender that falls under federal jurisdiction as:
        [a] person who travels in interstate or foreign commerce or enters or leaves Indian country or is
        present within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States with the intent to
        kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, and who, in the course
        of or as a result of such travel or presence, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence
        against that spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner.
For VAWA   grant purposes, VAWA states:
        The term domestic violence includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a
        current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares
        a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a
        spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic
        or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, or by any other person against an
        adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence
        laws of the jurisdiction.
OVW   administers VAWA  grants, and the DV definition on OVW's website matches the definition
Congress established for grants. OVW previously (April 2018 and earlier) posted a more expansive
definition that described DV as a pattern of behavior and included both economic and emotional abuse.
Of note, changes to the OVW website definition have no impact on VAWA grantees. In the 116th
Congress, H.R. 1585, if enacted, would amend the statutory definition used for grant programs to
resemble the more expansive definition previously published by OVW. This change would impact future
VAWA   grantees.

                                                                   Congressional  Research Service
                                                                     https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                          IN11085

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