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I’m not going to succumb to the temptation to talk about the Bishop Eddie Long debacle. There is more than enough being said in print, on the radio and television airwaves and in cyberspace. I’d rather devote this space to something more universally urgent – domestic violence. Certainly worth noting is that the month of October is Domestic Violence Month, a time to rededicate ourselves to the education and elimination of this scourge on society. Every five seconds a woman is abused in this country. Domestic violence is at epidemic proportions and sadly in this austere economic environment expected to escalate. Enter Angels In Distress, one of several organizations that helps to bring awareness to the problem of domestic violence and assists victims in their healing and recovery.

AID and other such organizations have their work cut out for them in Georgia. FBI figures just released are sobering. Georgia ranks 10th in the nation when it comes to the number of females murdered by one male assailant, 95 percent of whom knew their victims. The age of the average victim is 33, more than half of them are Black and about a third White. A whopping 64 percent of the victims were wives or girlfriends of the killers. While men are also victims of domestic violence and abuse, women are five to eight times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner. According to AID founder and director Janie Deadwyler there are distinct warning signs.