Cap. 581 Art. 2Interpretation. 

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Commission" means the Commission established by article 6;

"Convention" means the Council of Europe Convention on Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, concluded in Istanbul on the 11th May, 2011;

"domestic violence" means all acts or omissions, including verbal, physical, sexual, psychological or economic violence causing physical and, or moral harm or suffering, including threats of such acts or omissions, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, that occur within a family and, or in an intimate relationship, whether or not the perpetrator resides or has resided in the same residence with the victim, and shall also include children who are witnesses of violence within a family and, or an intimate relationship;

"family or domestic unit" includes:

(a) current or former spouses, civil union partners or cohabitants in accordance with the Cohabitation Act, and their children;

(b) persons having or who had a child in common;

(c) persons related to each other either by consanguinity or affinity, civil union and, or cohabitation up to the third degree inclusively;

(d) persons who are or have been in a sentimental, and, or intimate relationship; and

(e) spouses whose marriage has been dissolved or declared null;

"gender" means the socially constructed roles, expectations, activities, behaviours and attributes that society at any given time associates with a person of any sex, assuming any form of gender identity or gender expression;

"gender-based violence" means all acts or omissions that are directed against a person because of their gender, that result in, or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life; "MARAM Board" means a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Meeting Board which meets to discuss domestic violence cases that are considered as high-risk;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for equality:

Provided that with regard the MARAM Board, the Minister shall mean the Minister responsible for the Foundation for Social Welfare Services;

"victim" means any natural person who is subjected to forms of violence covered by the scope of this Act and the family members of any person whose death was directly caused by the said violence and who have suffered harm as a result of that person’s death as well as minors who are witnesses to the forms of violence covered by the scope of this Act.