| Domestic Violence Victims React to New Bill |
| (Columbia) - Ten years after her last
encounter with her ex-husband, the bruises are healed, the scars
less noticeable, but Mary Anne Jacobs still knows the pain of
domestic violence. "Many people would say - why didn't you leave, why do women stay and the thing is - unless you're there, you simply don't know," she says. For Jacobs, it took 16 years and the birth of her daughter for her to find the strength to leave. Now, she's speaking out about what she says has been the one thing missing from domestic violence laws. "The key to this is the educational component," Jacobs says. Under the new, revised bill first time offenders would have to complete counseling as part of a pre-trial intervention program, or PTI. Also, judges who would handle domestic violence cases would have to complete continuing education. It's those provisions - plus tougher penalties - that would, in the opinion of some, finally bring South Carolina up to speed. "When you look around the Midlands and other jurisdictions, we've got some real inadequate, antiquated sort of responses," says Sistercare executive director Nancy Barton. And one woman who knows that firsthand says it's about time the state took domestic violence seriously - with a bill that gets to the heart of the problem. "I personally don't think it'll stop through any legislation, it has to start with education," says Jacobs. |