Under the Protection from Abuse Act (PFA Act), “abuse” is defined as follows: “The occurrence of one or more of the following acts between family or household members, sexual or intimate partners or persons who share biological parenthood: (1) Attempting to cause or intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causing bodily injury, serious bodily injury, rape … (2) Placing another in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury.”

Over the years, questions have arisen regarding the qualification of standing in PFA cases. In October 2007, I wrote an article appearing in The Legal on the case of Scott v. Shay where the Superior Court held that sexual assault alone does not establish standing in a protection from abuse case. The focus, in part, in the Scott case was the fact that the parties did not voluntarily enter into a relationship. Senior Judge Robert E. Colville stated in Scott : “There is certainly no domestic, familial or romantic relationship created between an assailant and victim of a sexual assault. … An assailant and a victim do not, by virtue of a crime, suddenly have a bond regarding the private matters of life … . There is nothing at all about a sex crime that creates a domestic or familial link.” Therefore, because the mutual engagement of the relationship was missing, the petitioner lacked standing in the Scott case.

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