Marriage and family come with challenges. It is normal and expected to have disagreements and arguments with members of your family.
Domestic violence occurs when family members who cannot find a way to peacefully resolve issues resort to violence or other threatening behaviors against each other.
You can face domestic charges without touching anyone
In Florida, domestic violence is assault or battery, aggravated assault or battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, stalking, aggravated stalking, kidnapping, false imprisonment or any criminal offense that results in the injury or death of a family or household member. While many of those charges do involve physical confrontation, some of them do not. For example, stalking includes harassment to cause emotional distress and cyberstalking through the internet. Neither of those involves physical touch.
Domestic violence involves household and family members
Domestic violence does not strictly apply to only the people who currently live with you. It applies to your spouse, former spouse, blood relatives, relatives through marriage or people who have lived with you as though they are part of your family. Violence or threatening behaviors towards these people is domestic violence whether these people currently live with you or did in the past. Violence or threats against the mother or father of your child is domestic violence regardless of if you ever resided together.
Any person convicted of domestic violence in Florida must serve a minimum of 10 days in prison for their first offense. However, 10 days is only a minimum requirement. Depending on the type of domestic violence that occurred and the harm inflicted, a person convicted of domestic violence could spend many years in prison.
