South Carolina has the nation's highest rate of women killed by men. But until the new law went into effect Thursday, criminal domestic abuse of a high and aggravated nature was not a felony. Now convicted batterers will face mandatory jail time.

The new law's architect, Spartanburg state Sen. Jim Ritchie, said he pursued it because his home county has the highest rate of domestic violence in the state.

"We did not do a good job of protecting the most vulnerable in their own homes," he said.

In Greenville, victims advocate Susan Gowens says the new law and jail time are signs South Carolina is getting serious about stopping the problem.

"We have to come up with a plan to deter perpetrators," she said. "I think with the new law, things will change."

In September, the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., reported that 61 of the 64 women killed in South Carolina in 2001 knew their attacker. State Law Enforcement Division records from 2000 show 36,000 cases of domestic violence, ranging from intimidation to aggravated assault. While similar figures aren't available for 2002, SLED data shows nearly a quarter of the 26,214 aggravated assault victims statewide that year were in an intimate relationship with the batterer.

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