The Duluth model and broader efforts to deal with abuse of women essentially ignore sexual violence. The DAIP recognizes that the issue of marital rape poses a difficult challenge to the Duluth model and is concerned that it has not adequately pressured the criminal justice system to impose consequences for acts of rape. The courts have not referred any man to the DAIP because raping his wife was his primary offense, even though more than half the female victims have indicated that they have experienced sexual abuse. The one area where the Duluth model addresses sexual assault is in its education groups for men who batter. Laws have regarded marital rape differently from other forms of rape. Studies indicate that marital rape is a widespread problem. In addition, the experiences of 50 victims suggest that the types of marital rape include battering rape, obsessive rape, and force-only rape and that marital rape has wide-ranging and sometimes debilitating consequences. The first steps in creating a coordinated community response to marital rape are to take the problem seriously; recognize its nature, scope and impact; and create appropriate interventions. However, intervention in sexual violence should not simply be equivalent to intervention in physical violence. Efforts to revise and expand the Duluth model should include survivors of marital rape to determine how the criminal justice system, social services, medical and mental health services, shelters, and rape crisis centers could better respond to their needs. 8 references