Oriola

Joy Oriola appeals from an order dismissing her application for a restraining order against Adam Thaler for lack of jurisdiction under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA or the Act) (Fam. Code, § 6200 et seq.). The Act extends protection to individuals who are or have been in certain relationships with the perpetrator of defined types of abuse, including “a dating or engagement relationship.” (Fam. Code, §6211, subd. (c).) Appellant contends the trial court erred in finding there was no “dating relationship” between her and respondent.

.The sole legal question this case presents, which is considerably more difficult than it may first appear, is the meaning of the phrase “dating relationship” as used in the DVPA.

Statement of the Case and Facts

On August 7, 1998, appellant filed an application for a restraining order against respondent under the DVPA. In her application, appellant indicated that she and respondent had had a “dating or engagement relationship”; that respondent had “caused, threatened, or attempted bodily injury to [her] or another member of [her] household,” “made [her] or another member of [her] household afraid of physical or emotional harm,”…