XOXO
How to Support a Friend in an Abusive Relationship
Go bags, photo documents, and saving text messages can help
When Lorena Gallo met John Wayne Bobbitt in the late 1980s, she never imagined her world would come crashing down around her. After marrying him in 1989, John went on to spend the next four years terrorizing Lorena with physical beatings, sexual assault, and emotional abuse. An immigrant born in Ecuador and raised in Venezuela, Lorena was particularly vulnerable because not only did she struggle with the English language, she had no family nearby she could rely on for the support she needed. She was friendly with co-workers and had a few close friends, though, and they would become her strongest allies in her fight to break free of John. If you have a friend experiencing intimate partner abuse, your love and support may be their saving grace.
Lifetime Network recently premiered I Was Lorena Bobbit, the autobiographical account of their marriage and the events leading up to the night when Lorena severed John’s penis after he had once again sexually assaulted her. I’m old enough to remember the entire spectacle made of the situation; Lorena’s pain became fodder for jokes across the media, and she was vilified as some crazed, selfish woman. Despite her testimony about the abuse she endured, people (mostly…
