Silent witness ceremony remembers domestic violence victims

The state with one of the highest rates in the nation of domestic violence took time Monday to honor the 2007 victims of fatal domestic abuse. South Carolina held the 11th annual Silent Witness ceremony on the Statehouse steps.

South Carolina currently has the second-highest rate per capita of women killed by men in domestic violence situations.

At the ceremony, family members and volunteers carried 28 life-sized silhouettes representing women who died at the hands at those who were supposed to love them. There were also silhouettes for four men who died, and a 33rd silhouette representing all the unknown victims.

State attorney general Henry McMaster said this was his sixth ceremony. “I’m haunted always at these ceremonies by the knowledge that, as we stand here today this year, we’ll be here again next year reading the names of more victims who are today alive.“ 

He urged anyone in an abusive relationship to get help, by either calling a local shelter, the state hotline or even telling a family member or friend. If you need help getting out of a violent relationship, call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-260-9293.

One of those carrying a silhouette was Cynthia Dassinger of Anderson County. Her 36-year-old daughter, Denise Lucas, was murdered last year by Lucas’ ex-husband. Luther Lucas II then killed himself

Dassinger thinks judges and police need to be tougher on abusers. Luther Lucas had been arrested before for criminal domestic violence, and Denise had an order of protection against him. “Instead of him going to jail, they would pat him on the back and say, ‘Ya’ll go home and behave.‘ No fines, no tickets, no jail time,“ she says.

McMaster says the state is taking steps that should lower our high domestic violence rate. Those steps include special courts to handle domestic violence cases, and a pro bono program in which lawyers volunteer their time to prosecute domestic violence cases.

But Vicki Bourus, director of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, says more needs to be done.

“I believe the shelters are still vastly underfunded. We don’t have enough resources for them to really do their work as well as they would like to. We don’t have a transitional housing program here in South Carolina. So 6 weeks or 8 weeks in shelter is just not enough for a woman to get on her feet,“ she says.

And even though many judges are receiving training, she says more of them need it. “We’re still running into folks that are making decisions around orders of protection and some victim-blaming that’s still going on in our courts, particularly our family courts. I think our family court judges really need education around domestic violence.“ Bourus says.

She says the Department of Education also needs to get involved, incorporating some kind of curriculum against domestic violence into our schools to help prevent a lot of it from happening in the future.