Nevertheless, it is true that we recognize that there are some women who use violence against men and that intimate violence also occurs in same-sex relationships. However, we firmly believe that the Power and Control Wheel and the Equality Wheel, developed by women who were abused by men, are important tools in educational groups for men who have abused females. We point out that women who are battered by men or are otherwise the objects of abusive behaviors by men do have similar experiences with other groups. Even so, we believe that their experiences are not, in fact, the same experiences. This, we believe, is because simply substituting gender neutral language does not take into account some very specific tactics used to control other groups of people. For example, in a same sex relationship the power and control tactic of outing one of the partners is not a typical experience of that group of women who developed the Power and Control and the Equality Wheels.

Questions, inquiries, comments and suggestions are welcome.