Awareness about domestic violence can help people advocate for themselves in difficult, dangerous situations. Advocacy groups have tried to make awareness about different forms of domestic violence relatively mainstream.
Unfortunately, some attempts at promoting awareness can actually have the opposite effect. By grouping behavior like verbal abuse with physical violence, domestic violence educators and advocates can muddy the waters. They can lead people to think that they experienced criminal domestic violence when they actually did not. Those misconceptions might lead to people calling the police or trying to prosecute romantic partners for actions that are not truly criminal.
Is verbal abuse actually a form of criminal domestic violence in Nevada?
Most verbal abuse is not criminal
A variety of behaviors may meet the definition of verbal abuse established by advocates. Verbally belittling or insulting someone, especially repeatedly, is verbal abuse to many people. Aggressive speech and intimidating language may also constitute verbal abuse.
While those behaviors might be reason for people to establish boundaries in their relationships or seek marital counseling, they are not actionable crimes under Nevada state statutes. Domestic violence typically entails committing acts of physical violence against another person with whom an individual has a familial, romantic or home-sharing relationship.
Making insulting comments about a partner’s appearance or obviously false threats are not behaviors that warrant domestic violence prosecution. People in volatile relationships sometimes confuse what advocates consider domestic violence with what the state considers domestic violence. They may threaten to call the police or prosecute a partner, family member or roommate when the state could not prosecute them for their behavior.
There is one noteworthy exception
Occasionally, behavior that entails verbal abuse may technically violate Nevada criminal statutes. If the verbal abuse consists of threats that put the other party in a reasonable state of fear for their immediate safety, then that situation might lead to allegations of verbal assault. However, other reasonable adults would have to agree that the person hearing the threatening statements had a reasonable expectation of the other party actually harming them.
Oftentimes, statements made during a domestic dispute, including threats to call the police, come from heightened emotions, not concerns that are legally actionable. Those who learn about Nevada’s domestic violence laws can better respond to threats and allegations made by someone with whom they have a close relationship. And, also importantly, understanding these laws can help those who have been accused of wrongdoing to defend themselves against allegations that they have broken the law when they, in fact, have not.