2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 750 - FAMILIES › 750 ILCS 60/ - Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. › Article I - General Provisions

(750 ILCS 60/Art. I heading)
ARTICLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
(750 ILCS 60/101) (from Ch. 40, par. 2311-1)
Sec. 101. 
		Short Title. 
		This Act shall be known and may be cited as
the "Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986".
(Source: P.A. 84-1305.)
(750 ILCS 60/102) (from Ch. 40, par. 2311-2)
Sec. 102. 
		Purposes; rules of construction. 
		This Act shall be
liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes, which are
to:
(1) Recognize domestic violence as a serious crime against the
individual and society which produces family disharmony in thousands of
Illinois families,
promotes a pattern of escalating violence which frequently culminates in
intra-family homicide, and creates an emotional atmosphere that is not
conducive to healthy childhood development;
(2) Recognize domestic violence against high risk adults with
disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable due to impairments in ability
to seek or obtain protection, as a serious problem which takes on many
forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation,
and facilitate accessibility of remedies under the Act in order to provide
immediate and effective assistance and protection.
(3) Recognize that the legal system has
ineffectively dealt with family violence in the past, allowing abusers to
escape effective prosecution or financial liability, and has not adequately
acknowledged the criminal nature of domestic violence;
that, although many laws have changed, in practice there is
still widespread failure to appropriately protect and assist victims;
(4) Support the efforts of victims of domestic violence to avoid further
abuse by promptly entering and diligently enforcing court orders which
prohibit abuse and, when necessary, reduce the abuser's access to the
victim and
address any related issues of child custody and economic
support, so that victims are not trapped in abusive situations by fear of
retaliation, loss of a child, financial dependence, or loss of
accessible housing or services;
(5) Clarify the responsibilities and support the efforts of law
enforcement officers to provide immediate, effective assistance and
protection for victims of domestic violence, recognizing that law
enforcement officers often
become the secondary victims of domestic violence, as evidenced by the high
rates of police injuries and deaths that occur in response to domestic violence
calls; and
(6) Expand the civil and criminal remedies for victims of domestic
violence; including, when necessary, the remedies which  effect physical
separation of the parties to prevent further abuse.
(Source: P.A. 86-542; 87-1186.)
(750 ILCS 60/103) (from Ch. 40, par. 2311-3)
Sec. 103. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act, the following
terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Abuse" means physical abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent,
interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation but does not include
reasonable direction of a minor child by a parent or person in loco parentis.
(2) "Adult with disabilities" means an elder adult with disabilities
or a high-risk adult with disabilities.  A person may be an adult with
disabilities for purposes of this Act even though he or she has never been
adjudicated an incompetent adult.  However, no court proceeding may be
initiated or continued on
behalf of an adult with disabilities over that adult's objection, unless such
proceeding is approved by his or her legal guardian, if any.
(3) "Domestic violence" means abuse as defined in paragraph (1).
(4) "Elder adult with disabilities" means an adult prevented by
advanced age from taking appropriate action to protect himself or herself
from abuse by a family or household member.
(5) "Exploitation" means the illegal, including tortious, use of a
high-risk adult with disabilities or of the assets or resources of a
high-risk adult with disabilities.  Exploitation includes, but is not
limited to, the misappropriation of assets or resources of a high-risk
adult with disabilities by undue influence, by breach of a fiduciary
relationship, by fraud, deception, or extortion, or the use of such assets or
resources in a manner contrary to law.
(6) "Family or household members" include spouses, former spouses,
parents, children, stepchildren and other persons related by blood or
by present or prior marriage, persons
who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, persons who have or
allegedly have a child in common, persons who share or allegedly share a
blood relationship through a child, persons who have or have had a dating
or engagement relationship, persons with disabilities and their
personal assistants, and caregivers as defined in Section 12-4.4a of the Criminal Code of 2012.
For purposes of this paragraph, neither a casual acquaintanceship nor
ordinary fraternization between 2 individuals in business or social
contexts shall be deemed to constitute a dating relationship.
In the case of a high-risk adult with
disabilities, "family or household members" includes any person
who has the responsibility for a high-risk adult as a result of a family
relationship or who has assumed responsibility for all or a portion of the
care of a high-risk adult with disabilities voluntarily, or by express or
implied contract, or by court order.
(7) "Harassment" means knowing conduct which
is not necessary to accomplish a purpose that is reasonable under the
circumstances; would cause a reasonable person emotional distress; and
does cause emotional distress to the petitioner.
Unless the presumption is rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, the
following types of conduct shall be
presumed to cause emotional distress:
(i) creating a disturbance at petitioner's place of     employment or school;
(ii) repeatedly telephoning petitioner's place of     employment, home or residence;
(iii) repeatedly following petitioner about in a     public place or places;
(iv) repeatedly keeping petitioner under surveillance     by remaining present outside his or her home, school, place of employment, vehicle or other place occupied by petitioner or by peering in petitioner's windows;
(v) improperly concealing a minor child from     petitioner, repeatedly threatening to improperly remove a minor child of petitioner's from the jurisdiction or from the physical care of petitioner, repeatedly threatening to conceal a minor child from petitioner, or making a single such threat following an actual or attempted improper removal or concealment, unless respondent was fleeing an incident or pattern of domestic violence; or
(vi) threatening physical force, confinement or     restraint on one or more occasions.
(8) "High-risk adult with disabilities" means a person aged 18 or over
whose physical or mental disability impairs his or her ability to seek or
obtain protection from abuse, neglect, or exploitation.
(9) "Interference with personal liberty" means committing or
threatening physical abuse, harassment, intimidation or
willful deprivation so as to
compel another to
engage in conduct from which she or he has a right to abstain or to refrain from conduct
in which she or he has a right to engage.
(10) "Intimidation of a dependent" means subjecting a person
who is dependent
because of
age, health or disability to participation in or the witnessing of:  physical force
against another or physical confinement or restraint of another which
constitutes physical abuse as defined in this Act, regardless of whether the
abused person is a family or household member.
(11) (A) "Neglect" means the failure to exercise that degree of care
toward a high-risk adult with disabilities which a reasonable person would
exercise under the circumstances and includes but is not limited to:
(i) the failure to take reasonable steps to protect a     high-risk adult with disabilities from acts of abuse;
(ii) the repeated, careless imposition of     unreasonable confinement;
(iii) the failure to provide food, shelter, clothing,     and personal hygiene to a high-risk adult with disabilities who requires such assistance;
(iv) the failure to provide medical and     rehabilitative care for the physical and mental health needs of a high-risk adult with disabilities; or
(v) the failure to protect a high-risk adult with     disabilities from health and safety hazards.
(B) Nothing in this subsection (10) shall be construed to impose a requirement that
assistance be provided to a high-risk adult with disabilities over his or
her objection in the absence of a court order, nor to create any new
affirmative duty to provide support to a high-risk adult with disabilities.
(12) "Order of protection" means an emergency order, interim
order or plenary order, granted pursuant to this Act,
which includes any or
all of the remedies authorized by Section 214 of this Act.
(13) "Petitioner" may mean not only any named petitioner for the order of
protection and any named victim of abuse on whose behalf the petition
 is brought, but also any other person protected by this Act.
(14) "Physical abuse" includes sexual abuse and means any
of the following:
(i) knowing or reckless use of physical force,     confinement or restraint;
(ii) knowing, repeated and unnecessary sleep     deprivation; or
(iii) knowing or reckless conduct which creates an     immediate risk of physical harm.
(14.5) "Stay away" means for the respondent to refrain from  both physical presence and nonphysical contact with the petitioner whether direct, indirect (including, but not limited to, telephone calls, mail, email, faxes, and written notes), or through third parties who may or may not know about the order of protection.
(15) "Willful deprivation" means wilfully denying a person who
because of age, health or disability requires medication,
medical care, shelter, accessible shelter or services, food,
therapeutic device, or other physical
assistance, and thereby exposing that person to the risk of physical,
mental or emotional harm, except with regard to medical care or treatment
when the dependent person has expressed an intent to forgo such medical
care or treatment.  This paragraph does not
create any new affirmative duty to provide support to dependent persons.
(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)