SC prosecutor honors domestic violence victims

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s top prosecutor is hosting a somber ceremony to honor the state’s victims killed by domestic violence.

Attorney General Alan Wilson is holding the Silent Witness Domestic Violence ceremony Tuesday at the Statehouse.

Wilson plans to call the names of each man and woman killed by domestic violence in 2011. This is the event’s 15th year and also features life-size silhouettes representing each victim. A bell also rings once for each person.

October is national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Last year’s ceremony recognized 44 men and women from across the state killed by domestic violence in 2010.

The latest report by the Violence Policy Center in Washington shows that South Carolina ranks second nationwide in the rate of women killed by men.

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Online: SC Attorney General’s Office: http://www.scag.gov/criminal-domestic-violence-in-south-carolina