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S 2489Family

Domestic Relations – Domestic Abuse Prevention

This bill expands the legal definition of domestic abuse to include manipulative behaviors like financial control and isolation.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation updates Rhode Island's domestic abuse laws by expanding the definition of "domestic abuse" to include "coercive control." Coercive control is defined as a pattern of behavior that unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty. The bill outlines specific examples of this behavior, such as isolating a partner from friends and family, controlling their finances or movements, depriving them of basic necessities, threatening them based on immigration status, or using threats regarding sexual images. This change allows courts to issue protective orders based on these non-physical forms of abuse.

For younger readers

This law changes the rules to help protect people from being treated badly by a boyfriend, girlfriend, or family member. Before, the rules mostly focused on stopping people from hitting or physically hurting others. Now, the law says it is also wrong to control someone else's life. This includes things like stopping them from seeing their friends, taking away their money so they can't buy food, or scaring them to make them do things they don't want to do. It helps keep people safe from bullies in their own families.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Domestic abuse victimsFamily Court litigantsImmigrantsParentsLaw enforcement
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

The legislation introduces the concept of "coercive control," defined as behavior that "unreasonably interferes" with free will. This subjective standard could face challenges under the Due Process Clause for vagueness, as it may not provide clear notice of prohibited conduct. Additionally, provisions restricting communications or threats could be scrutinized under the First Amendment, though courts generally accept that true threats and harassment are not protected speech. The risk is moderate, centered on how "unreasonable" is interpreted by courts.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Acknowledges that abuse is not solely physical by legally recognizing psychological, financial, and emotional manipulation, providing greater protection for victims of "invisible" abuse.
  • Explicitly protects vulnerable immigrant populations by classifying threats based on actual or suspected immigration status as a form of coercive control.
  • Empowers victims of economic abuse by addressing behaviors that deprive individuals of basic necessities or control their finances, thereby supporting their financial independence and safety.
  • The subjective nature of terms like "unreasonably interferes" could potentially be applied inconsistently by law enforcement or judges, leading to unpredictable outcomes in court.
  • Does not include specific funding or appropriations for social services, housing, or counseling to support the victims identified under this expanded definition.
  • Reliance on the legal system to solve interpersonal dynamics may lead to increased involvement of police and courts in marginalized communities without addressing root causes of conflict.
For Conservatives
  • Protects individual liberty by providing legal recourse for individuals whose free will and personal agency are being actively suppressed by a controlling partner.
  • Strengthens the rule of law by providing courts with clearer, codified definitions of abuse, potentially closing loopholes where non-physical abusers previously evaded consequences.
  • Addresses the violation of personal privacy and dignity by classifying threats to release sexual images as a specific form of abuse.
  • Expands government intrusion into private family life and relationships by regulating non-criminal behaviors and interpersonal dynamics that do not involve physical violence.
  • The broad and subjective definition of "coercive control" could be weaponized in divorce or custody proceedings, allowing false accusations to gain legal leverage.
  • Risks criminalizing standard relationship conflicts or financial disagreements by labeling them as "controlling," potentially infringing on the autonomy of family decision-making.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 16 additions · 1 deletion

SECTION 1. Section 15-15-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 15-15 entitled "Domestic Abuse Prevention" is hereby amended to read as follows: 15-15-1. Definitions. The following words as used in this chapter have the following meanings:

(1) “Course of conduct” means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of “course of conduct.”

(2) “Courts” means the family court.

(3) “Cyberstalking” means transmitting any communication by computer to any person or causing any person to be contacted for the sole purpose of harassing that person or his or her family.

(4) “Domestic abuse” means: The occurrence of one or more of the following acts between present or former family members, parents, stepparents, a plaintiff parent’s minor child(ren) to which the defendant is not a blood relative or relative by marriage, adult plaintiffs who are or have been in a substantive dating or engagement relationship within the past one year and who are (either individually or together) parents of minor children, or persons who are or have been in a substantive dating or engagement relationship within the past one year in which at least one of the persons is a minor:

(i) Attempting to cause or causing physical harm;

(ii) Placing another in fear of imminent serious physical harm;

(iii) Causing another to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force, threat of force, or duress; or

(iv) Stalking or cyberstalking; or

(v) Coercive control of another, which is a pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty. "Coercive control" includes, but is not limited to, unreasonably engaging in any of the following:

(A) Isolating another from friends, relatives or other sources of support;

(B) Depriving another of basic necessities;

(C) Controlling, regulating or monitoring another's movements, communications, daily behavior, finances, economic resources or access to services;

(D) Compelling another by force, threat or intimidation including, but not limited to, threats based on actual or suspected immigration status, to:

(I) Engage in conduct from which such individual has a right to abstain; or

(II) Abstain from conduct that such individual has a right to pursue;

(E) Committing or threatening to commit cruelty to animals that intimidates another; or

(F) Forced sex acts, or threats of a sexual nature including, but not limited to, threatened acts of sexual conduct, threats based on another's sexuality or threats to release sexual images.

(5) “Harassing” means following a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person with the intent to seriously alarm, annoy, or bother the person, and which serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, or be in fear of bodily injury.

(6) “Parents” mean persons who together are the legal parents of one or more children, regardless of their marital status or whether they have lived together at any time.

(7) “Present or former family member” means the spouse, former spouse, minor children, stepchildren, a plaintiff parent’s minor child(ren) to which the defendant is not a blood relative or relative by marriage, minor children of substantive dating partners, or persons who are related by blood or marriage.

(8) “Sexual exploitation” means the occurrence of any of the following acts by any person who knowingly or willfully encourages, aids, or coerces any child under the age of eighteen (18) years:

(i) Recruiting, employing, enticing, soliciting, isolating, harboring, transporting, providing, persuading, obtaining, or maintaining, or so attempting, any minor for the purposes of commercial sex acts or sexually explicit performances; or selling or purchasing a minor for the purposes of commercial sex acts.

(A) “Commercial sex act” means any sex act or sexually explicit performance on account of which anything of value is given, promised to, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person.

(B) “Sexually explicit performance” means an act or show, intended to arouse, satisfy the sexual desires of, or appeal to the prurient interests of patrons or viewers, whether public or private, live, photographed, recorded, or videotaped.

(9) “Stalking” means harassing another person or willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly following another person with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of bodily injury.

(10) “Substantive dating” or “engagement relationship” means a significant and personal/intimate relationship that shall be adjudged by the court’s consideration of the following factors:

(i) The length of time of the relationship;

(ii) The type of relationship; and

(iii) The frequency of interaction between the parties.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.