Although no deaths in Fayette

County this year have been attributed to domestic violence, there is still

plenty of room for local education on the issue, according to Bonnie Campbell,

executive director of the Fayette County Council on Domestic Violence.

Campbell often sits in on court

hearings to assist victims of domestic violence, and there were times

this year when she was shocked by what she heard:

� A man was found not guilty

of simple battery against his girlfriend, despite photos shown to the

jury of the victim's black eye and the man's admission that

he punched her. The suspect also admitted to fabricating an e-mail in

the case, but the jury believed his claim that he struck the woman in

self-defense, Campbell said.

� In another case where a man

was found not guilty of simple battery and stalking against his girlfriend,

one juror said after the trial, "If that's the definition of

simple battery then we could all be found guilty of that," Campbell

said.

� A woman called her pastor

after her husband was jailed for assaulting her and the pastor asked the

woman, "How could you put him in jail?" and added, "You

know, divorce is wrong."

Blaming the victims of domestic

violence isn't the solution, especially when it leads to not holding

the offenders accountable, Campbell said.

"One of the first things

people ask is, 'Why doesn't she leave,'" Campbell

said. "Why don't we ask, 'Why does he hurt her? Why does

he hurt the woman he claims to love?'"

Women who attempt to leave

the relationship often put themselves at risk, Campbell said. Statistics

show that 75 percent of the women who are killed by their abusers die

as they are leaving or after they have left the home, she said.

Some victims are afraid to

come forward just because their husband/abuser is so well-liked in the

community the victim thinks her story won't be believed, Campbell

added.

"They have a public face,

and they have a very private face," Campbell said. Victims will tell

her, "Everybody likes him, they think he's so wonderful and

nobody believes me."

Although there have been no

domestic violence deaths in Fayette this year, the county has been inadvertently

touched by domestic violence homicide, Campbell noted. Two former Fayette

women who live elsewhere in metro Atlanta were killed by their partners

this year, Campbell said.

And last year 613 domestic

violence incidents were reported to local law enforcement agencies, Campbell

said, noting the number of actual incidents is likely greater due to victims

too scared to call police.

"It happens everywhere,"

Campbell said.