In Pennsylvania, the Protection From Abuse Act exists to prevent and protect individuals from abuse. The Protection From Abuse Act is commonly referred to as the PFA Act. Orders obtained under the PFA Act are regularly referred to as PFAs and/or PFA orders.
“Abuse” is defined, in part, under the PFA Act 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 serious bodily injury, rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault or incest with or without a deadly weapon.” The recent case of Boykai v. Young, 2004 Pa. Super. 4 (January 7, 2014), pertained to an interesting aspect of the application of the PFA Act. Pursuant to the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s holding in Boykai, rape and/or sexual assault occurring between a married couple warrants the entry of a PFA order. Prior to the 1980s, when the marital rape exemption existed, this would not be the case.
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