Pursuant to the DVA, domestic violence is defined as follows:
Any act done with the intention to or in the manner likely to cause harm to body, mind or health of a family member or to exert coercion or immoral influence over a family member in order to wrongfully cause them to do, not to do or yield to any act, but not including an act done negligently.
In addition, the FIA also refers to domestic violence as follows:
Any act done by family members to each other with the intent to or in the manner likely to cause harm to the life, body, mind, health, freedom, or reputation of a family member, or to exert coercion or immoral influence over a family member in order to wrongfully cause them to do, not to do or yield to any act.
Section 2(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that an "injured person" (i.e., a victim) means "a person who has received injury through the commission of any offense."
In addition, Section 6 of the Regulation of the President of the Supreme Court on the Proceeding of Welfare Protection Cases provides that a "victim" means a "victim of domestic violence pursuant to the law on the protection of victims of domestic violence."This term is not explicitly defined. However, measures prescribed by the relevant domestic violence laws for the protection of domestic violence victims may be considered a civil protection order.
This term is not defined in any legislation. However, the rape offense under Section 276 of the Criminal Code has been amended to cover marital rape.
Since the definitions of domestic violence specifically refer to actions done to a "family member," the term "family member" is defined in both the DVA and the FIA as follows:
- Pursuant to Section 3 of the DVA, a "family member" means "a spouse, a former spouse, those who cohabit or used to cohabit as husband and wife without registering for marriage, a child, an adopted child, members of the family, as well as any person who depends on or lives in the same household."
- Pursuant to Section 3 of the FIA, a "family member" means "parents, descendants, a spouse, a former spouse, those who cohabit or used to cohabit as husband and wife without registering for marriage, adoptive child, as well as any person who depends on or lives in the same household."