Grenada updates domestic violence law to protect long-term cohabiting couples

Grenada is amending its Domestic Violence Act to extend legal protections to couples who have lived together for at least five years, granting them the same rights as married couples under the law. The proposed changes are among several pieces of legislation scheduled for debate and approval in the Lower House on Tuesday.

Under the 2026 amendment, the term “cohabitant” is formally defined to include individuals of the opposite sex who have lived together on a bona fide domestic basis continuously for five or more years, effectively recognising long-term domestic partnerships even without a formal marriage.

The legislation also introduces a revised definition of domestic violence, broadening the scope to include any controlling or abusive behaviour that harms the health, safety, or well-being of a person or child. This encompasses physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, verbal, or psychological abuse, economic abuse, intimidation, and harassment, including online harassment.

New provisions explicitly address cybercrime in domestic situations. “Cyberbullying” refers to the repeated use of digital means to demean, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, or emotionally abuse a person. “Cyberstalking” covers electronic patterns of harassment or threats intended to coerce, control, or cause fear. “Online harassment” includes actions such as sending abusive messages, impersonating the victim, monitoring digital activity without consent, or publishing private or sensitive information.

The law defines “private or sensitive information” as any personal data—recorded or unrecorded, written, visual, oral, or electronic—that pertains to intimate aspects of a person’s identity or relationships, is not publicly accessible, and which, if disclosed, could cause harm, distress, or violate the person’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

The amendments follow recommendations from the Spotlight Initiative and reflect Grenada’s ongoing efforts to strengthen protections for domestic partners and children. Lawmakers and advocates say the updates modernise the law to account for the realities of long-term cohabiting couples and address emerging threats such as online abuse and cyber harassment.