Created in 1977, Emerge was the nation's first counseling program for men who batter their female partners. Today it is the largest, most authoritative, and leading such program in New England. It was instrumental in writing the Massachusetts standards for batterer treatment programs, and has trained most of the counselors and supervisors in the resulting 26 state-certified programs. It pioneered the development of groups focusing on adolescents who batter their girlfriends, mothers and sisters, and developed the only certified training course for professionals working with them. It has helped over 400 other agencies develop batterer-treatment programs; conducted statewide training of criminal justice personnel in 16 states and 6 foreign countries; published numerous articles; and it participates in many research projects. Emerge's strategy is to reduce if not eliminate violence toward women by increasing the level of protection for victims and the level of accountability for perpetrators. It has influenced Massachusetts' steady increase in rates of arrest, prosecution and sentencing. If you care about this issue, you can support the leader.