the Massachusetts county of Norfolk, has been adopted throughout the state and in hundreds of other communities on the United States.

Named after the main town in Norfolk County, it is designed to remove the onus for bringing charges against a batterer out of the hands of the victim and into the hands of prosecutors.

While it requires special training for all those involved and additional expense, Norfolk County District Attorney Mr. William Delahunt, who launched the scheme in 1978, points out that there has been just one domestic murder in the county in the last decade.

Yesterday Assistant District Attorney Mrs. Marianne Hinkle, took the Blow the Whistle on Violence conference through each step of a domestic violence prosecution under the Quincy Model.

Mrs. Hinkle, began by playing a 911 tape of a six-year-old girl screaming for help as her mother was being beaten by her boyfriend.

Following an emergency domestic violence call like that, Police would immediately go to the house "with the intent of maximising the victim's safety and increasing offender accountability'', she said.

The Police officer would investigate as if he would a murder scene, looking for clues of a violent fight, photographing injuries and interviewing the batterer and witnesses.

In more than half the cases in her state, the victim refuses to testify in the end so Police need other evidence and witnesses, she noted.

"It's nothing different from how they investigate a homicide. And if they don't do a good job it will result in more homicides,'' she said.

After the batterer is arrested, the victim would he helped in getting a restraining order.

"If it's 2 a.m., we have an on-call judge to issue a temporary restraining order,'' she said.

The woman would then appear in the local court the next morning to extend the order. She would first be involved in a brief session with the domestic violence prosecutor and court advocates where the worsening cycle of domestic abuse would be explained to her and the devastating impact on her children if she stayed in an abusive relationship. The nearest shelter would also be pointed out to her.

The batterer, meanwhile, would be briefed on what would be considered defiance of a restraining order and where he can get help.

The two would then have a hearing and a full restraining order granted.

Teenagers in abusive relationships would also be able to get restraining orders.

The batterer, if convicted, would be sent to prison or a mandatory six-months to one-year counselling programme. Provisions for electronic monitoring could also be made.

And there was provision in some cases for the woman to get a cash grant to move towns or homes.