Domestic violence cases are a special category of civil harassment.
Civil harassment occurs when one person annoys, harasses, injures, or threatens another person.
However, a civil harassment case does not have to meet the relationship test established for domestic violence. Domestic violence cases can often be more volatile than civil harassment cases. Because of the special relationship between the parties, a domestic violence case often results in greater harm caused by one person against the other. Many states have different procedures for domestic violence and civil harassment. In addition, the available remedies for a domestic violence case may differ from the remedies available in a civil harassment case.