3.1 Domestic violence
- The Social Support Act 2015[8] defines domestic violence as covering physical, mental or sexual violence or threat by a family member, housemate, spouse or former spouse or caregiver.
- In the Youth Act 2015,[9] child abuse is defined as threatening or violent interactions of a physical, psychological or sexual nature, by the parents or other persons with whom the child is in a relationship of dependence.
- Domestic violence is not defined as a crime in and of itself and there is no specific offense that captures the conduct typical of domestic violence cases. However, violence against a family member is considered an aggravating circumstance.[10]
3.2 Stalking
"Any person who unlawfully, systematically, intentionally violates another person's personal privacy with the intention of compelling that other person to act or to refrain from certain acts or to tolerate certain acts or of instilling fear in that person, shall be guilty of stalking and shall be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three years or a fine of the fourth category."[11]
3.3 Harassment
Harassment is influencing someone's behavior by frightening them or by threatening them with negative consequences. These consequences can be physical violence, for example, but other negative consequences are also conceivable. A distinction can be made between:
- physical harassment, in which the harassment takes place through physical behavior and actual action (imminent approach, vandalism, (light) violence, threatening gestures, etc.)
- verbal harassment, in which the threat is implicitly or explicitly verbally conveyed
- written intimidation, whereby the threat is conveyed in writing (by letter or email)[12]
3.4 Victim
A "victim" is a person who has experienced a shocking event (outside the usual human experience), witnessed it or heard about it and has been killed or injured and/or harmed and/or reacted to it with an intense feeling of powerlessness and intense fear. These are normal reactions to an abnormal event in which the victim's own experience mainly determines the impact of the event.
3.6 Civil protection order
A civil protection order may be any provisional or definitive measure imposed for the protection of the victim in civil, criminal or administrative proceedings. It can be either an injunction or a prohibition. The aim is always to regulate the behavior of offenders.[13]
3.7 Causes of action
If what has happened is punishable, the police will investigate it. If they arrest the perpetrator of the violence, then the perpetrator will go to the police station. The police will carry out further investigations into the circumstances of the violence and any criminal offenses. The public prosecutor will decide whether the perpetrator of the violence is to be brought before a judge or allowed to go home with a summons. The mayor — or, on their behalf, the assistant public prosecutor — may impose a restraining order on the perpetrator of domestic violence. In that case, the perpetrator of domestic violence may not enter his or her home for 10 days. During this period he or she is also not allowed to contact the victim and any children involved. During this cooling-off period, the necessary assistance can be provided for all those involved and further escalation can be prevented. After these 10 days, the mayor can extend the house ban to a maximum of four weeks. Domestic violence perpetrators can be prosecuted and possibly sentenced to imprisonment. For assault, the sentence can even be increased if a family member is involved. Where no report been made, the police, together with the Public Prosecutor's Office, will endeavor to prosecute the case ex officio. This means prosecution without the victim having made a report.