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PARKERSBURG - A group of community members gathered for a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening at West Virginia University at Parkersburg to reflect on the thousands of lives affected by domestic violence.

Some of those in attendance were survivors of domestic violence.

"It means a lot for me to be able to speak out about my experience," said Celena Campbell, president of the criminal justice program at WVUP. Campbell said she spent 10 years in an emotionally and physically abusive relationship before she left her abuser to start a new life with her two young sons, 12-year-old Ryan and 8-year-old Daniel.

"When I was 18, I thought I had met the love of my life. Over the years, there was a gradual escalation of abuse that led to physical violence. We are survivors, all three of us," she said, looking toward her sons.

The vigil was held in honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The small crowd gathered at the university on the front patio lined with 55 purple candles to represent the 55 counties in West Virginia.

After the ceremony, the group moved inside to watch Campbell and her children add a yellow shirt to the clothesline project in the criminal justice lab.

Dozens of colored T-shirts hung on clotheslines, each created by someone touched by domestic violence. Every shirt had a story to tell.

"The clothesline project means people can tell their stories. There is a lot of closure in breaking the silence," said Louis Roy, criminal justice coordinator. "It's a very moving display."

Each T-shirt color represents a different story. Yellow for women who have been battered or assaulted, white for those who have died of violence, red for those who have been raped or sexually assaulted and purple for those who have been attacked because of their sexual orientation, Roy said.

"Domestic violence awareness has come a long way in the past 10 years," he said. "But it all comes down to reporting violent crimes and making sure there are resources for these people to turn to. We lose thousands to domestic violence every year, and it shouldn't happen."

Denise McClung, professor of psychology at WVUP, said she is amazed at how many students she knows that have been in abusive relationships.

"People have said to me, the broken bones and bruises will heal in time, but the emotional damage inflicted because of an abusive relationship takes years and years to heal. The more times we can come together to address this issue the better."

Diane Shingler, a correctional counselor at St. Marys Correctional Center, works with inmates accused of domestic violence.

"I work with the batterers, and it's a challenge every day," said Shingler. "Many of them have the type of personalities where they feel they have to exert power and control over people. But I know many of them have the power to change for the better."

A small tree was displayed near the clothesline project adorned with 23 paper butterflies, representing the 23 people who died last year in West Virginia because of domestic violence. The display was part of a community awareness project, created by the inmates at St. Marys Correctional Center, Shingler said.

To increase domestic violence awareness, communities must work together to break the silence, Campbell said.

"A woman dies every 14 days in West Virginia because of domestic violence," she said. "We have made so much progress in the past 15 years, but there's still so much more we can do."

Report violent crimes to law enforcement, make resources available for victims of domestic violence and enforce penalties for the perpetrators of abuse, Campbell said.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the national domestic violence hotline at (800) 799-7233 or contact the Family Crisis Intervention Center in Parkersburg.