Although she had always been passionate about civil rights, in the 1970s Ellen Pence turned her focus to domestic violence, which at that time was referred to as the battered women’s movement. Ellen and several other activists at the time wanted to change the narrativeand response to domestic violence. Ellen and her colleagues in Duluth, Minnesota created the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, also referred to as the Duluth Model, in the early 1980s as a new model and approach in domestic violence advocacy. The main goals of the Duluth Model were to keep victims safe by not blaming them for the abuse and to hold the abusers accountable for theiractions. As they continued their work with women who had experienced abuse, Ellen and her colleagues wanted to get a better understanding of what washappening within the relationship and within the home. After hours of interviews and conversations, they constructed the Power and Control Wheel. The tactics inside the wheel combined with physical or sexual violence are the waythat they maintain power and control over the partner.  

 

"A community using the Duluth Model approach:

· Has taken the blameoff the victim and placed the accountability for abuse on the offender.
· Has shared policies and procedures for holding offenders accountable and keeping victims safe across all agencies in the criminal and civil justice systems from 911 to the courts.
· Prioritizes the voices and experiences of women who experience battering in the creation of those policies and procedures.
· Believes that battering is a pattern of actions used to intentionally control or dominate an intimate partner and actively works to change societal conditions that supportmen’s use of tactics of power and control over women.
· Offers change opportunities for offenders through court-ordered educational groups for batterers.
· Has ongoing discussions between criminal and civil justice agencies, community members and victims to close gaps and improve the community’s response to battering."

https://www.theduluthmodel.org/what-is-the-duluth-model/

‍

https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/