COLUMBIA, S.C. — More than four in ten women in South Carolina have reported being victims of domestic violence. Many times, those impacted keep their experience to themselves, afraid to reach out because of embarrassment or fear. But thanks to numerous groups across the state, help is always available.
Harold White of Tallahassee, Florida recalled the moment he found out his daughter was dead.
“And that’s when they proceeded to tell me that she was deceased. That’s not a call that any parent in life should ever get," White said.
Last Wednesday, authorities discovered the dead body of White's pregnant daughter, Chandreka Graham, in her northeast Columbia home. In the days since that shocking discovery, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department has charged her husband, Jerrod Graham, with the murder of his wife and their unborn child.
But Chandreka's story is just one of the over 32,000 cases of domestic violence that occur in South Carolina every year. Shannon Nix is the director of member support for the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. During an interview Tuesday, she said a surprising number of both women and men have been victims of domestic violence.
“42.3% of South Carolina women and 29.2% of South Carolina men are victims of the same intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence and stalking,” she said, explaining that of the incidents that turn fatal, most are due to firearm use.
“In 2021 we had 57 domestic violence related fatalities, or homicides, and in 79% of those, the primary cause of death was a gunshot,” Nix said.
While being a victim of domestic violence is often terrifying, Nix said coming forward can be just as scary.
“So, I think a lot of times there’s fear, ‘If I tell this person, how are they going to react',” she explained.
For those whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence or sexual assault, there are multiple resources available right here in the Midlands.
One of those organizations is The Hive Community Circle. Cio Nunez is Development Director for The Hive. She said they provide a range of services for survivors of both domestic violence and sexual assault.
"Our services include peer support, which comes with peer advocacy, counseling services 101, or peer support groups, case management, crisis intervention and also economic justice,” she said.
Nunez said The Hive also provides the community with prevention education, to stop partner abuse before it starts.
"Our prevention, we believe, has to start young. So, our teen curriculum, which is called ‘The Bus Pack’ is for teens and adolescents. We partner with service providers that work with teenagers and adolescents to impart this curriculum that talks about healthy relationships, consent, what is domestic violence and what is sexual assault, so we can prevent these things from happening when we are adults,” Nunez explained.
The Hive Community Circle is located at 4704 Colonial Dr. in Columbia. To learn more, visit TheHiveCC.org.
If you or someone you know is living through domestic violence or sexual assault, you are not alone. Help is available anytime by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting TheHotLine.org or by texting "Begin" to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 88788.