Includes sexual misconduct, forcible touching, sexual abuse, stalking and criminal mischief within offenses which may constitute domestic violence

1 Multi-sponsor

• Thomas Alfano

BILL NUMBER:A10440B

Title of bill

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to the definitions of "victim of domestic violence" and "family and household members" for the purposes of domestic violence prevention

Purpose of bill

Section 1 amends section 459-a of the Social Services Law, to include in the definition of victim of domestic violence acts of "sexual miscon- duct, forcible touching, sexual abuse, stalking, criminal mischief," and to include unrelated persons in intimate relationships in the definition of family or household members. It also removes the age limitation from the definition of victim of domestic violence.

Section 2 provides for an immediate effective date.

Justification

When the legislature expanded the definition of family or household member in Ch. 326 of 2008, it did not make conforming changes to section 459-a of the Social Services Law, which provides definitions that control the qualifications for services for domestic violence victims. This law should reflect the definition found in article 8 of the Family Court Act for family or household members to include intimate relation- ships and should also reflect that the definition of a victim of domes- tic violence is not limited by age. This is important to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not arbitrarily precluded from services based on incomplete definitions of family or household member and victim of domestic violence. In addition, this provision should be updated to include as domestic violence conduct that constitutes a family offense in Section 812 of the Family Court Act.

Legislative history

New bill, 2010.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

None.

Effective date

Immediately.