COLUMBIA, S.C. - Attorney General Henry McMaster says black women are more likely than white women to become victims of domestic violence and he is seeking federal money to hire specialized prosecutors in mostly black regions of the state.

But domestic violence activists say domestic violence cuts across racial, economic and educational lines and worry about the issue become mired in racial politics.

An analysis of State Law Enforcement data from 1996 to 2000 found nonwhite women are 2 to 3 times as likely to be battered as white women, McMaster told attendees Wednesday at the annual meeting of the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault.

"What this means to me is that black women are calling for help at a rate two times that of whites," McMaster said.

McMaster's office is seeking a federal grant to hire three full-time prosecutors in seven rural Pee Dee counties, most of which are predominantly black. The new hires would prosecute only domestic violence cases.

"We're going to go where we are called," McMaster said.

McMaster was being honored by the group for his efforts to curb domestic violence in South Carolina, which has one of the leading rates in the nation of women killed by men.

Andrea Loney, an attorney who has worked in the domestic violence field 23 years, said she questioned the statistics. "I'm concerned about putting a color on domestic violence," Loney said. "I don't want us to take the view that it's a problem over there."

Vicki Bourus, director of the statewide advocacy organization, said she does not doubt McMaster's commitment to fighting domestic violence. Yet, "we cannot allow this issue to become a racial hot button," she said. "It has got to stay focused on domestic violence."

Reports from the state's 19 shelters indicate white and black women seek help in proportion to the community in which they lived, Bourus said. Black women might call police or go to court more readily because they have fewer choices, she said. Bourus and other advocates said white women, who tend to have more resources to leave home or hire attorneys, would be less likely to call police.

"That doesn't necessarily translate into a worse problem for them," Bourus said of black women.

McMaster acknowledged the statistics do not account for victims who did not report attacks.

"This is ... the only factual data that we have," McMaster said of the SLED statistics based on police reports. "People can draw their own conclusions from that."