An Act to provide for the protection and relief of victims of domestic violence; to provide for the punishment of perpetrators of domestic violence; to provide for the procedure and guidelines to be followed by the court in relation to the protection and compensation of victims of domestic violence; to provide for the jurisdiction of court; to provide for the enforcement of orders made by the court; to empower the family and children court to handle cases of domestic violence and for related matters.
The Act contains definitions of "domestic violence", "emotional, verbal and psychological abuse", "harass", "physical abuse" and "sexual abuse (section 2) and "domestic relationship" (section 3). Section 4 covers Prohibition of domestic violence, paragraph (2): "A person in a domestic relationship who engages in domestic violence commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding forty eight currency points or imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both."
The Act contains three Schedules, including Guiding Principles for Determining Compensation (Second Schedule).