Turkish group makes Duluth stop to study abuse intervention

A 10-person delegation from Turkey will be in Duluth today to learn about the internationally recognized Duluth Model to end violence against women.

Created by the charitable group Domestic Abuse Intervention Programs, the Duluth Model uses an interagency approach involving police, probation, courts and human services.

The project also included the start of Duluth’s mandatory arrest policy in cases in which there is an injury and police have evidence that an assault occurred.

“We are honored to be part of international conversations about keeping battered women safe and holding men who use violence accountable,” DAIP executive director Linda Riddle said in a news release. “Domestic violence happens everywhere in the world, and those of us in the movement to end it have many things to teach and learn from each other.”

Duluth is the final stop in a weeklong trip for 10 educators and experts from Turkey’s Ministry of Family Issues and Social Policies Directorate General of the Status of Women.

The trip, organized by the U.S. Department of State as part of its International Visitor Leadership Program, is designed to teach the visitors about U.S. responses to domestic violence.

According to the State Department, the delegation has met with government officials, legal professionals, social workers, domestic violence shelters, nongovernmental organizations and community activists to compare best practices and advances in preventing and combating domestic violence.

In Duluth, the delegation will learn about Duluth’s coordinated community response to violence against women by meeting with DAIP officials and others, including Duluth Police Chief Gordon Ramsay, DAIP board chairman and retired Duluth police officer John Beyer, St. Louis County Judge Sally Tarnowski and Safe Haven Resource Center Director Susan Utech.

DAIP began in 1980 as an initiative to reform the criminal justice system in Duluth.

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