Photo Feature: Domestic Violence Vigil

a light in the darkness

by Matt Dymond

Stella Abcock sings “Concrete Angel.”

staff reports

Published: October 21, 2009

Family Services of McDowell County held their annual Candlelight Vigil Tuesday night on the courthouse lawn as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Members of AVID, a McDowell High School group, read stories of actual domestic violence crimes that occurred in McDowell. District Court Judge Randy Pool said that 85 percent of domestic violence victims are women, and 25 percent of women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. He also added that domestic violence has been accredited to more than 70 homicides a year for the last three years in the state of North Carolina. Speakers reminded the crowd that domestic violence victims are more than a statistic and that no county or city is immune to it. Family Services of McDowell reported that in 2008 they received 164 crisis calls on the crisis hotline, assisted with 214 domestic violence protective orders and sheltered 79 adults and children. Most domestic violence victims never report it, but help is out there. If you or someone that you know is the victim of domestic violence, call Family Services' 24-hour crisis line at 652-6150.