Submitted by Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor’s Office
PRESS RELEASE - Battered women often underestimate the severity of the mistreatment they suffer and the likelihood their abusive partners eventually will kill them, a national authority told law-enforcement officers and victim advocates across South Carolina on Friday.
In the 1980s, Dr. Jacquelyn C. Campbell of Johns Hopkins University developed a danger assessment to help victims understand the threats they face. She has spent the decades since refining the tool and teaching officers and advocates how to use it.
“We’re trying to stop the next domestic homicide,” said 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, who worked with Hopeful Horizons to arrange Friday’s training. “Dr. Campbell’s assessment is such a valuable tool because it cuts through the noise to make the risks clear to all involved – particularly law enforcement officers and the victims themselves.”
Hopeful Horizons CEO Kristin Dubrowski agreed.
“Law enforcement and victim advocates play a critical role in helping to break the cycle of domestic violence,” Dubrowski said. “Statistics show that domestic violence-related homicides are greatly reduced when victims are connected with resources. It is an honor to be able to bring Dr. Campbell to the Lowcountry to implement her evidence-based Danger Assessment locally – it will literally save lives.”
Nationally, about half of all female homicide victims are killed by a husband, boyfriend or former intimate partner, according to Campbell. Such inter-partner violence is particularly acute in the Palmetto State. Since 2001, South Carolina has routinely ranked among the worst in the country for the rate of women killed by men. Three times during that span, the state was first by that dubious measure.
To date, there are 125 reported domestic incidents in Colleton County, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office. This is as of Sept. 20th and is the year to date.
“After doing the danger assessment, women say they’re more likely to seek help from police and/or shelter services,” Campbell told nearly 100 training participants from organizations around the state.
Campbell’s training was live-streamed by the Solicitor’s Office to a statewide audience. The broadcast was originally to take place before both online participants and invited guests at the Solicitor’s Office headquarters. Travel concerns as a result of COVID-19 prompted Campbell to instead conduct the session remotely from her home in the Baltimore area.
Attorneys, service providers and victim advocates from several agencies were among the participants. Representatives from the Beaufort, Jasper and Hampton County sheriff’s departments; Beaufort, Hardeeville and Bluffton police departments; and the University of South Carolina Beaufort police also attended.
