The South Carolina Silent Witness Story : Report on Domestic Violence Homicide Victims from 2014

Abstract

In 2014, there were a total of 39 people murdered by a household member, according to the South Carolina definition. Of those 39 people, 29 were women, constituting 74 percent of the total, and 10 were men, constituting 26 percent of the total. The demographics of the victims were as follows: 54 percent were White, 44 percent were African American, and 2 percent were Hispanic. The average age of these victims was 41 years old. The Office of the Attorney General, through its S.T.O.P. Violence Against Women program, collected the data by contacting every sheriff’s office, coroner’s office, police department and solicitor’s office in the state. Those offices were provided with a victim information sheet to complete and asked to provide any incident reports related to domestic homicide victims.