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Know the Laws: Arizona

UPDATED September 18, 2009

Crimes

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Even if you do not qualify for an Order of Protection or Injunction against Harassment, but your abuser has been abusive, your abuser may have committed a crime against you.  If you call the police, they may arrest him for a crime.

There is helpful information for victims of crime here: http://www.azlawhelp.org/subtopic.cfm?mc=13

You may also want to look at the Arizona Criminal Code to read legal definitions of crimes. Some of these are listed on our AZ Legal Statutes page.  You may also want to read the laws (statutes) provided by the Arizona State Legislature here: AZ Criminal Code.

In Arizona, there is a specific crime of domestic violence, defined and explained in the Criminal Code of the Arizona Revised Statutes (Arizona state laws), which you can read on our site in AZ Legal Statutes, Title 13, Chapter 36, Secs. 13-3601 through 3602.  Generally, the crime of domestic violence is when someone commits assault or any other domestic violence offense against you (see What is the legal definition of domestic violence in Arizona?) and

  • You and the defendant are married, were married, are household members, or were household members;
  • You and the defendant have a child in common;
  • You or the defendant is pregnant by the other; 
  • You are related to the defendant or the defendant's spouse by blood or court order as a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, brother or sister or by marriage as a parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, stepparent, step-grandparent, stepchild, step-grandchild, brother-in-law or sister-in-law; or
  • The victim is a child who lives with or has lived in the same household as the defendant and is related to a former spouse or household member of the defendant.

Consider also that in Arizona, the following are also crimes:

  • endangerment
  • kidnapping
  • sexual offenses
  • criminal trespass and burglary
  • criminal damage to property
  • theft and robbery 
  • stalking
  • obscenity
  • sexual exploitation of children

You may also want to contact the Stalking Resource Center if you are being stalked or harassed: www.ncvc.org/src

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