Domestic violence includes the following crimes that result in violence or the threat of violence against anyone in a domestic relationship: assault, threatening and intimidating, endangerment, custodial interference, unlawful imprisonment, kidnapping, criminal trespass, criminal damage, disorderly conduct and crimes against children. If you are in imminent danger of becoming a victim of domestic violence, call 911 immediately.

If you are not in immediate danger and want to take legal action to protect yourself, and others, threatened by domestic violence, you can file court paperwork at the Superior Court, at any Justice of the Peace Court to request an Order of Protection.

If you already have filed a domestic relations case in the Superior Court, you must file your Order of Protection paperwork in the Superior Court. And, if you plan to file a Domestic Relations case, you may want to file your Petition for Order of Protection in Superior Court.

An Order of Protection issued by a judge is an Order intended to help prevent further acts of domestic violence by allowing you to get help from the police if the order is violated. These orders are valid for one year from the date issued, and are renewable. An Order of Protection is not a guarantee of your safety. You should always remain cautious and have a personal safety plan.

An Order of Protection is not an order for temporary child custody for the purpose of preventing a parent from seeing children, unless the children are also endangered. It is not an order for visitation.

Before you can file for an Order of Protection, you must have a certain relationship with the person that is abusing you. The defendant must be one of the either:

If the defendant is not any of these relationships to you, but is still harassing you, you may still be able to file for an Injunction Against Harassment.

Unlike the Order of Protection, an Injunction Against Harassment is not based on criminal behavior and is not based on the relationship between the parties.