(Columbia-AP) Sept. 29, 2004 - Fewer women were killed by men in South Carolina in 2002 than the year before. That helped move the state from number one to number six in the national rankings by the Violence Policy Center in Washington.

The center's annual report shows 49 women died in 2002 at the hands of men, 2.3 per 100,000 residents. Last year's report showed 64 women were killed by men in the state, a rate of 3.2 per 100,000 residents.

State Attorney General Henry McMaster says the lower rate is an improvement, but he says the number is still outrageously high and needs to come down to zero.

Vicki Bourus with the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault says the 2002 data shows the hard work by advocates and lawmakers is making a difference, "We don't want to be number one and are happy to be out of that position, and in the last few years we have gotten several significant state leaders, Attorney General Henry McMaster and Justice Jean Toal have made significant strides in addressing it and bringing attention to it. And, I think that's half the battle."

The 2002 figures don't show the impact of changes in the state's domestic violence and abuse laws in the past couple years. For instance, tougher domestic violence and abuse penalties hit the law books last year. McMaster last year launched a program in two counties that trains volunteer lawyers to prosecute domestic violence cases.

The Violence Policy Center's study on South Carolina deaths showed in cases where weapon, relationship and circumstance could be determined:

• 30 of 44 victims were killed with guns, with just over half shot with handguns.
• 41 of 44 victims knew the person who killed them and 29 were killed by husbands, ex-husbands, common-law spouses or boyfriends.
• 30 deaths involved arguments

Domestic violence awareness month starts Friday.

Updated 7:12pm by BrettWitt