Contact With Women Partners

Contact with women partners is essential for a complete assessment of the abuse. It is also important to provide women with information about supportive counselling, transition houses and legal alternatives. Ensuring the woman has a safety plan or will be referred to someone who can help her formulate one is crucial. Women need to be given accurate information about the process of the men's group and likely results. Great care should be taken to present a conservative estimate of success ("there is no guarantee with your partner") so as not to build false hopes. The woman should be encouraged to protect herself through separation or legal means even if this runs contrary to the wishes of the male client.

Women should be encouraged to participate, but their involvement should be voluntary. In addition to initial contact for assessment, attempts should be made to contact her throughout the program to monitor safety and validate abuse reports from the man. Some programs may choose to conduct parallel women's support groups with communication between group leaders taking place.