# Battered Women's Justice Project *U.S. organization whose description of the Duluth model, a Minnesota-originated domestic-violence protocol, is quoted in the record* The Battered Women's Justice Project is a U.S. organization that appears in this record only as the author of a description of the [[Duluth model]]. The Duluth model is a coordinated community protocol for responding to intimate partner violence, built in Duluth, [[Minnesota]]. According to the project's at-issue record, the organization describes the model as "used in all 50 states and in seventeen foreign countries and is identified in nearly all state standards."[^1] The same at-issue record places that description beside the meta-analytic results it summarizes. It reports an effect on official recidivism reports of d = 0.12 to 0.18 and an effect on victim-reported outcomes of zero.[^1] The record names its underlying sources only by domain, and their texts are not in this record. The cached encyclopedic summary records two findings that point in different directions. A 2003 [[National Institute of Justice]] study found the model had "little or no effect," and the Institute itself noted low response rates and heavy dropout. A 2003 four-city evaluation by E. W. Gondolf reported that 80% of men reached sustained non-violence.[^2] The model grew out of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP). Ellen Pence began organizing it in Duluth in 1980,[^3] and it became operational in 1981.[^4] The record does not establish the Battered Women's Justice Project's founding date, officers, budget, or funding sources. It also does not establish how federal or state funds have been applied to programs using the model. ## Who The Battered Women's Justice Project is the source of the "all 50 states" description quoted in the at-issue record.[^1] The Wikipedia page retrieved under the organization's name (revision 1379863183, retrieved 26 October 2026) contains text about the Duluth model, not a separate account of the organization.[^5] The DAIP, based in Duluth, devised the protocol. Its own site presents the project's official history.[^6] The protocol links police, family-law, and social-work agencies in what it calls a "Coordinated Community Response."[^5] Ellen Pence co-founded the DAIP[^7] and began organizing it in 1980.[^3] ## What The model sets out three stated goals for coordinated agencies: - securing the safety of survivors; - holding abusive partners accountable for their violence; - changing a climate that tolerates such violence.[^5] Its men's behavior-change component is the curriculum *Creating a Process of Change for Men who Batter: The Duluth Curriculum*. The encyclopedic summary identifies it as the batterer intervention program used most often in the United States.[^5] The model's theory treats battering as a means by which men exercise power and control over a partner. It illustrates this with the "Power and Control Wheel," a poster displayed in participating sites. Treatment of abusive men takes the form of re-education rather than therapy for individual pathology.[^8] Activists in the battered women's movement developed the curriculum. They drew on five battered women and four men as its subjects.[^8] ## When - 1980: Ellen Pence begins organizing the DAIP in Duluth.[^3] - 1981: the DAIP becomes operational as an experimental multi-agency program in Duluth.[^4][^8] - 2003: the National Institute of Justice study finds "little or no effect." Gondolf's four-year, four-city evaluation is published the same year.[^2] - 2005: Larry Bennett's study of batterer intervention programs in Cook County, Illinois, is published.[^2] - 2011: a review of batterer intervention programs, mainly Duluth-model programs, finds "there is no solid empirical evidence for either the effectiveness or relative superiority" of current programs.[^2] - 2014: the Duluth Model Coordinated Community Response receives the World Future Council's Future Policy Award.[^5] ## Where The model originated in Duluth, Minnesota. Other jurisdictions have since used it as a template.[^8] As quoted in the at-issue record, the Battered Women's Justice Project's description places it in all 50 states and seventeen foreign countries.[^1] ## How many The record's counts on the model's reach and results come from sources of different rank. Each figure is attributed to its source below. - **Reach.** The organization's description, as quoted, claims use in all 50 states and seventeen foreign countries. It also says nearly all state standards identify the model.[^1] - **Meta-analysis.** The at-issue record reports an effect on official recidivism reports of d = 0.12 to 0.18 and an effect on victim-reported outcomes of zero.[^1] - **Government studies.** An early U.S. government-sponsored study found that men who completed Duluth-model programs reoffended less often than men who completed no program. The 2003 National Institute of Justice study reported "little or no effect." The Institute cautioned that its measures of batterers' attitudes and future abuse "were of questionable validity."[^2] - **Gondolf (2003).** The four-year evaluation across four cities reported sustained non-violence for 80% of men.[^2] - **Bennett (2005).** Among 30 programs in Cook County, 15 percent of completers were rearrested for domestic violence, against 37 percent of dropouts. Bennett said such studies lacked a proper control group, and that completers are likely more motivated than dropouts.[^2] Critics, including psychologist Donald Dutton, have faulted the model for its handling of violence by women, violence in same-sex relationships, and abuse running in both directions. Its proponents say it is effective and makes good use of limited resources.[^7] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record carries one pair on this subject, AI-Scott-030 (rank 30, Matrix 3.10). It appears in the section *The Immunity Architecture & the Consequence-Free Malfeasance Edition*. The pair juxtaposes two things: - the Battered Women's Justice Project's own account of the model's national and international reach; - the meta-analytic effect sizes summarized above.[^1] The pair is anchored to a March 2025 White House presidential action on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal spending. The pair's stated reason for that anchor is an expenditure question about court-mandated programs funded at national scale.[^1] The record contains no dollar figures for the organization or the model. It therefore does not establish what public money, if any, has supported programs using the model. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Ellen Pence, co-founder of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project.[^3][^7] - The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, Duluth.[^6] ### What - The Duluth model, a coordinated community response protocol, and its batterer curriculum.[^5] ### When - 1980: organizing begins.[^3] - 1981: the project becomes operational.[^4] ### Where - Duluth, Minnesota.[^3][^4] ## Notes [^1]: Project at-issue record, *AI-Scott-030* (Matrix 3.10, Scott package) — quotes the Battered Women's Justice Project's description of the Duluth model's reach and summarizes meta-analytic effect sizes (d = 0.12–0.18 on official recidivism; zero on victim reports). The pair lists source domains bwjp.org, link.springer.com and ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, whose URLs are not in this pack. The URL given is the pair's anchor, a March 2025 White House presidential action. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^2]: Wikipedia, *Battered Women's Justice Project*, section "Effectiveness" (rev. 1379863183, retrieved 2026-10-26) — early government study; 2003 NIJ study and its stated limitations; 2003 Gondolf evaluation; 2005 Bennett Cook County study; 2011 review. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_Women's_Justice_Project [^3]: Wikipedia, *Ellen Pence* — Pence begins organizing the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth, 1980. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Pence [^4]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, *History* — the project becomes operational in Duluth, 1981. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/history/ [^5]: Wikipedia, *Battered Women's Justice Project*, lead section (rev. 1379863183, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the DAIP's Coordinated Community Response, the model's three stated goals, the curriculum title and its prevalence, the 2014 Future Policy Award. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_Women's_Justice_Project [^6]: Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, *About Us* — the DAIP's account of its own history. https://www.theduluthmodel.org/about-us/ [^7]: Wikipedia, *Battered Women's Justice Project*, section "Criticism" (rev. 1379863183, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Pence as DAIP co-founder; criticisms including Dutton's; proponents' response. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_Women's_Justice_Project [^8]: Wikipedia, *Battered Women's Justice Project*, section "Origin and theory" (rev. 1379863183, retrieved 2026-10-26) — power-and-control theory, the Power and Control Wheel, re-education, 1981 Duluth program, curriculum subjects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battered_Women's_Justice_Project