Jurisdictional Definitions of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking

• Domestic Violence: The state Texas defines domestic violence as follows: Texas Family Code Sec. 71.004. FAMILY VIOLENCE. Family violence means:
• An act by a member of a family or household against another member of the family or household that is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that reasonably places the member in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault, but does not include defensive measures to protect oneself;
• • Abuse, as that term is defined by Sections 261.001(1)(C), (E), and (G) Tex. Fam. Code, by a member of a family or household toward a child of the family or household; or Dating violence, as that term is defined by Section 71.0021 Tex. Fam. Code. Texas Family Code Sec. 71.003. FAMILY. “Family” includes individuals related by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Sections 573.022 and 573.024, Government Code, individuals who are former spouses of each other, individuals who are the parents of the same child, without regard to marriage, and a foster child and foster parent, without regard to whether those individuals reside together.

• Dating Violence: The state of Texas defines dating violence as follows:
• An act, other than a defensive measure to protect oneself, by an actor that:
• Is committed against a victim/complainant or applicant of a protective order: with whom the actor has or has had a dating relationship; or because of the victim/complainant's marriage to or dating relationship with an individual with whom the actor is or has been in a dating relationship or marriage; and is intended to result in physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault or that is a threat that reasonably places the victim/complainant in fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury, assault, or sexual assault.
• For purposes of this title, "dating relationship" means a relationship between individuals who have or have had a continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on consideration of: the length of the relationship; the nature of the relationship; and the frequency and type of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
• A casual acquaintanceship or ordinary fraternization in a business or social context does not constitute a "dating relationship.”

• Sexual Assault: The state of Texas defines sexual assault as follows:

Sec. §22.011. SEXUAL ASSAULT.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person:

(1) intentionally or knowingly:

(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person's consent;

(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that person's consent; or

(C) causes the sexual organ of another person, without that person's consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; or

(2) intentionally or knowingly:

(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by any means;

(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of a child by the sexual organ of the actor;

(C) causes the sexual organ of a child to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor;

(D) causes the anus of a child to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; or

(E) causes the mouth of a child to contact the anus or sexual organ of another person, including the actor.

(b) A sexual assault under Subsection (a)(1) is without the consent of the other person if:

(1) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by the use of physical force or violence;

(2) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against the other person, and the other person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute the threat;

(3) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to resist;

(4) the actor knows that as a result of mental disease or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;

(5) the other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is occurring;

(6) the actor has intentionally impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any substance without the other person's knowledge;

(7) the actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against any person, and the other person believes that the actor has the ability to execute the threat;

(8) the actor is a public servant who coerces the other person to submit or participate;

(9) the actor is a mental health services provider or a health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a patient or former patient of the actor, to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the actor;

(10) the actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual adviser; or

(11) the actor is an employee of a facility where the other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, Family Code.

Texas Penal Code Sec. 22.021. AGGRAVATED SEXUAL ASSAULT.

(a.)  A person commits an offense if the person:

(1)  Intentionally or knowingly:

(A.)causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person's consent;

(B.)causes the penetration of the mouth of another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that person's consent; or

(C.)causes the sexual organ of another person, without that person's consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; or

(D.)intentionally or knowingly: causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of a child by any means;

(E.)causes the penetration of the mouth of a child by the sexual organ of the act;

(F.)  causes the sexual organ of a child to contact or penetrate the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor;

(G.)causes the anus of a child to contact the mouth, anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; or

(H.)causes the mouth of a child to contact the anus or sexual organ of another person, including the actor; and,

(I.)  causes serious bodily injury or attempts to cause the death of the victim/complainant or another person in the course of the same criminal episode; by acts or words places the victim/complainant in fear that any person will become the victim/complainant of an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) or that death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping will be imminently inflicted on any person; by acts or words occurring in the presence of the victim/complainant threatens to cause any person to become the victim/complainant of an offense under Texas Penal Code Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8) or to cause the death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping of any person; uses or exhibits a deadly weapon in the course of the same criminal episode; acts in concert with another who engages in conduct described by the first section above directed toward the same victim/complainant and occurring during the course of the same criminal episode; or administers or provides flunitrazepam, otherwise known as rohypnol, gamma hydroxybutyrate, or ketamine to the victim/complainant of the offense with the intent of facilitating the commission of the offense; the victim/complainant is younger than 14 years of age; or the victim/complainant is an elderly individual or a disabled individual.

The State of Texas defines incest as the following:

Sec. 25.02. PROHIBITED SEXUAL CONDUCT.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person engages in sexual intercourse or deviate sexual intercourse with another person the actor knows to be, without regard to legitimacy:

(1) the actor's ancestor or descendant by blood or adoption;

(2) the actor's current or former stepchild or stepparent;

(3) the actor's parent's brother or sister of the whole or half-blood;

(4) the actor's brother or sister of the whole or half blood or by adoption;

(5) the children of the actor's brother or sister of the whole or half blood or by adoption;   or

(6) the son or daughter of the actor's aunt or uncle of the whole or half blood or by   adoption.

  (b) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Deviate sexual intercourse" means any contact between the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.

(2) "Sexual intercourse" means any penetration of the female sex organ by the male sex   organ.

(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree, unless the offense is committed under Subsection (a)(1), in which event the offense is a felony of the second degree.

• Stalking: The state of Texas defines stalking as follows: Texas Penal Code Sec. 42.072.

STALKING.

A person commits an offense if the person, on more than one occasion and pursuant to the same scheme or course of conduct that is directed specifically at another person, knowingly engages in conduct that: Constitutes an offense under Section 42.07, Harassment, or that the actor knows or reasonably should know the other person will regard as threatening:

1. Bodily injury or death for the other person; That an offense will be committed against the other person's property;

1. Causes the other person, a member of the other person's family or household, or an individual with whom the other person has a dating relationship to be placed in fear of bodily injury or death or in fear that an offense will be committed against the other person's property, or to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended; and,

1. Would cause a reasonable person to: Fear bodily injury or death for himself or herself; Fear bodily injury or death for a member of the person's family or household or for an individual with whom the person has a dating relationship; Fear that an offense will be committed against the person's property; or Feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended.

• Consent: The state of Texas does not define what consent is but does define what consent is not.

Texas law is states that sexual penetration is WITHOUT CONSENT if:

a.  The actor compels the other person to submit or participate by the use of physical force or violence;

b.  The actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against the other person, and the other person believes that the actor has the present ability to execute the threat;

c.  The other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unconscious or physically unable to resist;

d.  The actor knows that as a result of mental disease or defect the other person is at the time of the sexual assault incapable either of appraising the nature of the act or of resisting it;

e.  The other person has not consented and the actor knows the other person is unaware that the sexual assault is occurring;

f.  The actor has intentionally impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any substance without the other person's knowledge;

g.  The actor compels the other person to submit or participate by threatening to use force or violence against any person, and the other person believes that the actor has the ability to execute the threat;

h.  The actor is a public servant who coerces the other person to submit or participate;

i.  The actor is a mental health services provider or a health care services provider who causes the other person, who is a patient or former patient of the actor, to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the actor;

j.  The actor is a clergyman who causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual adviser; or

k.  The actor is an employee of a facility where the other person is a resident, unless the employee and resident are formally or informally married to each other under Chapter 2, Family Code.

• Wayland defines consent as the following for purposes of its’ institutional Title IX Policy and resolution procedures:

Consent is an affirmative, conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.  It is an informed decision made freely, actively and voluntarily by all parties. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that he or she has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. 

Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Consent cannot be obtained by threat, coercion, or force.  

Furthermore, a current or previous dating or sexual relationship between the persons involved should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent. Being intoxicated does not diminish one’s responsibility to obtain consent.

A person cannot give consent if he or she (1) is a minor (under age 18); (2) has a mental disorder or developmental or physical disability that renders him or her incapable of giving consent, and this is known or reasonably should have been known to the Respondent; (3) is unconscious of the nature of the act, and this is known to the Respondent; or (4) is incapacitated from alcohol or other drugs, and this condition is known or reasonably should have been known to the Respondent.  Some indicators that an individual is or may be incapacitated due to intoxication may include, but are not limited to, vomiting, unresponsiveness, inability to communicate coherently, inability to dress/undress without assistance, inability to walk without assistance, slurred speech, loss of coordination, or inability to perform other physical or cognitive tasks without assistance. 

In the evaluation of any complaints in any University disciplinary process, it shall not be a valid excuse to alleged lack of affirmative consent that the Respondent accused believed that the Complainant consented to the sexual activity under either of the following circumstances: (a) the Respondent’s belief in affirmative consent arose from the intoxication or recklessness of the Respondent; or (b) the Respondent did not take reasonable steps, in the circumstances known to the Respondent at the time, to ascertain whether the Complainant affirmatively consented.

In the evaluation of any complaints in any University disciplinary process, it shall not be a valid excuse that the Respondent believed that the Complainant affirmatively consented to the sexual activity if the Respondent knew or reasonably should have known that the Complainant was unable to consent to the sexual activity under any of the following circumstances: (a) the Complainant was asleep or unconscious; (b) the Complainant was incapacitated due to the influence of drugs, alcohol, or medication, so that the Complainant could not understand the fact, nature, or extent of the sexual activity; (c) the Complainant was unable to communicate due to a mental or physical condition.