The study also explored the extent to which responses from the lesbian community and others to victims of abuse may serve to prevent or increase lesbian battering. Study participants were recruited by means of brochures distributed to women's organizations, agencies, bookstores, and bars in the Philadelphia area; advertisements in local and national newspapers; and an announcement mailed to more than 200 lesbian and gay newspapers and lesbian and gay organizations throughout the United States. Respondents were typically white, age 26 to 35, and living alone at the time of the study. Eighty-five percent indicated that the abusive relationship had ended. Respondents completed 12-page questionnaires that gathered personal information, information about the relationship, and data about the incidence and nature of battering episodes. Findings supported three hypotheses suggested by a review of the literature on lesbian relationships. First, batterers tended to be overly dependent on their partners and to resist their partners' attempts to be independent, using violence as a way to inhibit them. Second, abusive relationships tended to be characterized by an imbalance of power between partners. Finally, responses of others, especially others in the lesbian community, had a major role in helping or hindering lesbian victims' efforts to free themselves from abusive relationships and in preventing further violence. Tables, notes, and 23 references. (Author abstract modified)