Original subtitles

It happens every day in the United States.

Hundreds, even thousands of women

who are tortured and beaten and treated in ways

that would be unthinkable to any human.

What happened in the case of your first husband?

When I came to, I was in the hospital,

and the police asked me if I wanted to press charges,

and I told them yes.

And they had asked me if I had any witnesses.

And you'd been beaten by a tire iron

and--and woke up in the hospital,

and yet they still needed some corroboration?

Right.

The Bobbitt case came at a time

when the criminal justice system

didn't take domestic violence and sexual assault seriously,

and there simply was not a real national dialogue

about domestic violence.

How many more men are gonna go out there raping women?

When is domestic violence gonna end?

When is our system gonna explore the issue

and do something about it

so women do not have to be pushed to the extreme

of taking matters into their own hand?

This is not just about Lorena Bobbitt.

What affects one affects us all.

Many of us saw this case as an opportunity

to bring domestic violence into the public eye.

And I know that there were a lot of women

who were holding their breath for her,

who saw themselves in her plight,

who thought, "If I did something to extricate myself

from this situation, what would happen to me?

Would there be mercy?"

David Kaplan.

I have to ask you, as the justice editor,

what you think of the trial itself.

This isn't that complicated.

She admits what she did.

She says she had a good excuse for it.

She was a very good witness in trying to explain it.

It's now up to the jury.

- Remain seated. Come to order. - This court's in session.

Counsel, the jury has indicated

they do have a verdict at this time.

I'll ask the bailiff to please bring the jury down.

My life was in the hands of jurors.

They're the ones who are gonna decide

whether you're going to jail or not,

whether you're going to be free or not.

Will the defendant please stand?

In the case of Commonwealth of Virginia

versus Lorena Leonor Bobbitt,

criminal number 33821,

we the jury find the defendant Lorena Leonor Bobbitt

not guilty...

...of malicious wounding as charged in the indictment

by reason of insanity--

signed, Clay S. Cocalis, foreperson.

When she read the verdict "not guilty,"

I felt like, "Oh, my God. This is gonna be good."

So, it was 11 to 1 at one point

where I was the only holdout.

Most of the jurors, whether they would admit to it or not,

might have thought that Lorena was guilty,

but they didn't want to see her punished

because of--of the way her husband John

had treated her in the past.

Does either counsel wish for the jury to be...

They felt that he got what he deserved,

but ultimately, I kind of just acquiesced and said, "Okay."

The jury in this particular case

found her not guilty by reason of insanity,

and pursuant to 19.2-182.2 where a jury makes such a finding,

it does set forth and says

that the court shall place the person so acquitted

in the temporary custody

of the commissioner of mental health and mental retardation

and this court will do that.

If Your Honor please, we would ask that Your Honor set...

I didn't understand. Something is wrong.

I mean, she just read the verdict

saying that I'm not guilty.

Ms. Bobbitt, I remand your custody

over to the bailiff,

so there can be appropriate transportation

to the commissioner of mental health.

And then, two police officers took me away.

Just couldn't understand what's going on.

We had discussed the--the possible verdicts

in this case,

and she fully understood that in the event

of a "not guilty by reason of insanity,"

that by statute, uh, there's a mandate.

There was confusion in her mind.

It wasn't "not guilty" and that's--that's it.

But she was charged with malicious wounding,

and she could've gotten a very, very long prison sentence,

and it is, uh, in Virginia recognized,

if you're found, uh,

not guilty by reason of irresistible impulse,

then--then you're not criminally responsible.

Acquittal by reason of temporary insanity

does not mean Lorena Bobbitt is a free woman.

Virginia law requires she be sent to a state mental hospital

to undergo evaluation.

He should be the one who be in jail, not me.

The verdict is in in Manassas,

but the case isn't closed.

Bobbitt's argument, sad and violent as it was,

certainly made for provocative TV,

but will it make a difference?

If she didn't do it, who did it?

I don't think it was self-inflicted.

I think it's crazy.

She deserves everything good that she has coming.

Should get some help...

so she doesn't react that way next time.

Because her husband got off

and I think he was just as guilty.

And if they let him off,

they should've left-- let her off too.

Because this debate rages tonight

in offices and bars and restaurants everywhere,

we give you Patricia Ireland,

president of the National Organization for Women,

and Sidney Siller, founder and president--

National Organization for Men.

Is this a feminist issue?

Well, certainly, violence against women or spousal abuse

is a feminist issue.

It's why we think this case really underscores

the need for Congress,

when it comes back into session next week,

to get about the business of passing

a comprehensive Violence Against Women Act.

All right, Sidney, what was it to you and your organization?

I think it's justice run amok.

I think it was a barbaric, Neanderthal, uh, act

that, uh, Lorena Bobbitt committed.

She should've been found guilty,

and I think it's a travesty and miscarriage of justice.

- The-- - In other words,

"You can't retaliate if you're abused."

You can only retaliate with equal force to resist.

You cannot use excessive force.

That's the common law and generally accepted theories

- of self-defense. I see.

Nobody was more upset than the Bobbitt family itself.

Is there any possibility in your mind--

Bill, I know this is hard, it's your son--

that they both were wrong?

To a degree, but I don't believe

that John raped her or beat her.

What do you do now, Bill?

What's John gonna do?

We're hoping that John's gonna have the opportunity

to go out and be able to tell people his side.

Uh, somebody said, "Well, John's not a rocket scientist."

Well, he's not, but he's honest.

and if they'd listen to him, that usually comes across.

Devastating for me and everybody that watched.

Ev-everybody's, like, shocked.

It--it's bad.

I mean, lost a loved one

and the person who did it got away.

And, you know, you want to seek revenge.

You didn't get justice, but there's gotta be a way.

I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask all of you to leave

'cause you're interfering with the conduction of business

in this restaurant.

So would you please take your cameras outside?

Thank you.

When I was driving to Central State Hospital,

I was thinking, "There's gonna be

all kind of crazy people there."

You know, whatever I see in a movie or something.

I didn't know what to expect.

In Virginia, if someone's found

not guilty by reason of insanity,

folks get committed to the psychiatric hospital

at the maximum security forensic unit

at Central State Hospital for 45 days.

It's an old-time psychiatric hospital

with lots of security so that it feels sort of like a jail

with a hospital mission.

And during that 45 days,

two docs are going to evaluate them--

one psychiatrist and one psychologist.

When we got there, when they opened the door,

it was all eyes on me.

They knew who I was.

The verdict meant the jury bought

the defense's contention that Lorena Bobbitt suffered

so much abuse at the hands of her husband John...

I felt like I was falling apart.

It's just the unknown part that I fear the most.

We had a problem with a helicopter making a flyby

over the outside recreation area

clearly shooting an aerial shot of Lorena Bobbitt

outside having recreation time.

Some high-profile TV personalities

who wanted to speak with her tried to send her flowers

to the hospital.

It was really disruptive to the rest of the hospital

to have this case that the media still wouldn't let up on.

The head of the mental institution,

called me on the phone, and they said,

"I have Barbara Walters outside

who is absolutely demanding an interview,"

with a huge ABC crew.

And they're getting--they got the satellite dish up,

and they--they're getting ready to do

a, uh--a transmission.

Barbara said, "I interview kings.

"I interview presidents.

And you're not gonna tell me I can't talk to Lorena Bobbitt."

Uh, the woman says, "What do you want me to do?"

I said, "What does Lorena say?"

"Lorena said she doesn't want to do it."

"So you go out and tell Barbara that this is an interview

"she's not gonna get.

So you go back and tell her that and give her my phone number."

Barbara was on hold for an hour, and I didn't pick it up,

and the light finally went out.

Four weeks later, she said, "Why didn't you choose me?"

I said, "You're part of the Illuminati.

"You're part of the Trilateral Commission.

"You're part of the feminist movement.

"Those are all things I don't want Lorena

"to have anything to do with.

I just want her to be able to tell the story."

One of the National Organization for Women's

priorities was eliminating violence against women.

We sent out press release after press release

thinking that there were gonna be reporters

who want to talk about this issue,

who want to understand domestic violence,

and understand what might have driven a victim

to do what she did.

But the public was so entranced by the act

that they just couldn't really focus on anything else.

How much, uh, of his penis was cut off?

The huge, national and international

media presence that descended for these cases

really obscured the true story,

which was Lorena Bobbitt's own victimization.

One angry Virginia housewife

cut off her husband's penis.

What kind of a woman could strike out

in such a shocking way?

The pain was going through my mind for Christ sakes

for this poor guy.

Then she drove away

and threw the penis into a field.

No excuse for that.

Lorena Bobbitt was portrayed

by prosecution witnesses as a vicious woman

who physically attacked her husband.

Doing research for my story,

what I noticed is this portrayal of Lorena Bobbitt

as a vengeful, crazy woman who just snapped for no reason,

and that really missed the context of her story,

uh, and did a disservice to domestic violence victims

across the country.

No woman should be treated like this--

like I was.

I think that domestic violence wasn't covered

because the editors were men.

There are a lot of women reporters

that tried to write stories,

and they would say, you know, "I tried to write this,

and my editor said, "Oh. Nobody cares about that."

That was a pretty common response.

When she did it, uh, I was sleeping.

- I was laying down... - Yeah.

...flat on my back, you know, I was--you know, just exhausted.

- I was in a deep sleep. - Right.

- And, um-- - And you wake up...

I felt a pull, and then, just a jerk, and, you know...

America's most controversial performer in his first-ever

gay nightclub appearance.

Ladies and gentlemen-- and everybody else,

Mr. John Wayne Bobbitt!

Come on, let's hear it for him!

All right. They want me to strip.

You guys want to see me strip--

Tonight John will be judging the Lorena look-alike contest

featuring transvestites.

John will strip.

John will sell his underpants to the highest bidder.

Just $100 for set of one, guys.

John, if your mother could see you now.

One, two...

Oh, come on! Let's hear it, everybody!

I think the Bobbitt industry is worth, conservatively,

$10 million.

This is just, you know, something to show everybody

that, uh, I'm--I'm healed and fully functional.

I still can have sex and, um, it doesn't leak, you know.

What--what's the storyline of this thing?

Just basing it on my whole life.

Really? Who's that?

We know that when people

plop that video into their video cassette machine,

they're gonna hit the fast forward button,

and they're going right to the first time

they see John's penis.

People that normally don't watch adult movies still wanna see

what John Wayne Bobbitt's penis looks like.

We feel like this film is just gonna be a blockbuster.

So why not give it a traditional Hollywood screening?

I was happy to see the porn film--

eventually to see my handiwork was working well.

That's all I really cared about.

You didn't get a million bucks.

- No. - And then they say

you get a percentage. - Percentage, definitely--

But you know, the porno industry,

and I'm not saying this about anybody in your video...

How you gonna tell how many videos are sold?

Yeah-- - Well, it's over--I don't know,

I have no idea. - Where do the profits go?

- Does it go into a, uh-- - An escrow?

An escrow account?

Yeah, it goes into an escrow account--

- in Jack Gordon's account. - Oh, it does?

Oh, Jack Gordon's...

- ...escrow. - Really. Oh.

I didn't know it was going into Jack Gordon's account.

Well, then you have nothing to worry about.

I mean, you've got Honest Jack on your side,

- so there's no problem there. - No, not a problem.

That's right. And you are his manager?

You are Jack Gordon's son? - Yeah, that's me.

This thing's like the fourth biggest-grossing

- adult film already. - Really?

- Is that right? - So we're gonna chase

"Deep Throat" to $100 million. - Isn't that something?

John was attracted to the prospect of making

this kind of money.

He, unfortunately, did not.

I think he made a little bit of money,

but, uh, got totally taken advantage of.

Murphy took John's credit history to federal court

is my understanding.

They went through a process called Chapter 11,

which basically bankrupted all his current debts,

which included the hospital debt.

To my knowledge, the hospital never got paid any money

for the case and back then, even 25 years ago,

you know, it would've cost at least probably $50,000.

I certainly wasn't getting paid, so,

you know, he'd gotten--

not--not a whole lot of money at that time.

I don't think he's ever gotten a lot of money.

He was taken advantage of later by, uh, Jack Gordon.

We were called to a domestic violence

involving Mr. Bobbitt and, uh, Miss Elliott.

She alleged that Mr. Bobbitt had grabbed her

and pushed her up against a wall.

Well, he was just hitting me. He was just going off.

I'm innocent. It wasn't that, you know, I wanted to hit her.

She was hitting me.

When I was at the hospital, I was scared

most of the time.

I was fighting all kinds of bad memories.

I felt that I was hunted by my husband.

Like John was somewhere around ready to grab me or something.

It's just like a horror movie.

And I didn't realize that it was flashbacks or PTSD

because I will just have nightmares

and I would just, like, wake up.

I said, "I just have to get myself together.

"I just have to compose myself.

"I don't want to end up with drugs.

"I don't want to end up here more than 45 days."

And believe me, I would count the days.

A core tenet of somebody going through trauma-related therapy

is to learn to discuss the trauma.

Can't tell you the neurochemistry behind it,

but sure can tell you that it works.

As people retell the story again and again,

it not only gets easier,

but they start to understand things

that they didn't understand at the beginning.

The more I talked, I wanted to talk

even more and more and more.

- And, so...

...I realized it was just a different obstacle,

and my religious belief came to take over.

I was trying to fight the--the PTSD.

Fight the demons, fight whatever haunt me,

fight the bad horrors that I just went through.

And I said, "I have to get myself put together

"and just go on...

"because I'm still here.

I'm in Central State, but I'm still here."

I just had to go through this day by day.

I can't begin to tell ya how much stuff I done,

everywhere I've been,

and all the radio and television I've done,

and autographs I've signed.

At the time, John was probably more famous

than almost anybody except maybe

the president of the United States.

But when he gets out of the limelight,

I mean, he doesn't have a lot that he can do

with the job market,

and he didn't really know how to par--parlay it.

You are now known as Reverend John Wayne Bobbitt.

You now have the right to perform weddings.

Bill, do you take Diane

to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I do.

I think he could've done other things

to promote himself that would've been better.

John Wayne Bobbitt is going in for a penis extension.

I think this is insane.

There were some porn star friends of mine

that was getting it done,

and you know...why not?

Bigger's better.

John Wayne Bobbitt and Dr. Rosenstein,

who is going to perform the operation

on John Wayne Bobbitt.

Are you having an extension or are you having it made wider?

- Uh, both. - Length and girth.

Length and girth, right.

Oh--oh, you are giving him girth.

- You're gonna be big. - Yeah.

Wow. Look how happy he is.

Look at him. Oh, man.

Wouldn't you be afraid to do something to the penis

after going through something like that?

Uh, no. I did lots of research and, uh, Dr. Rosenstein

is one of the best doctors in the world.

- I see. - Well, you know,

I've done thousands of these, so we--

it's hard to get nervous over a single operation.

I'll tell you, man, I--I don't think I would do it,

but you will get more chicks, so maybe it's worth doing.

I'm still unsure, so I want to think about it.

In the movie "Frankenpenis,"

you actually see the operation

where they're actually making his penis larger

while he's under-- under sedation.

It's a good title because, you know,

it didn't turn out the way I expected, you know? I mean...

Well, what'd you expect?

Uh, I--I thought I'd have this, like, perfect penis, you know?

- Right. - But, uh, now it's like

pathetic penis.

John had this botched penile augmentation

with fat graft into his penis, and it was actually

an awful, awful job.

Certainly, had he asked me, you know,

should he risk that,

I would have told him he's nuts.

Had the doctor tell--told you about the lawsuits and stuff

and that things were going on? - No, no one said

anything to me, and, uh, I was just healing.

- I mean, we did. - He didn't tell you

it was gonna be that painful or that restrictive?

Right. He's so anxious to be a celebrity,

that he said, "Well, okay, I already did a porno movie,

no one's gonna--you know, they gotta see something new."

So he went and mutilated his own penis for the porno movie.

Who's there to protect you?

I--I never had anybody to protect me,

like, good management.

So, like, you know, Rocky Balboa.

"Need a good manager."

And mixes up--protect you from all this, you know?

All this crap, you know?

You know? Make sure you don't get hurt.

The court agrees with the doctor's findings

and recommendations that inpatient hospitalization

is not required at this time.

The court is going to conditionally release

the acquittee.

Are there any questions at this time by either counsel?

If there are no questions,

then that would conclude the hearing at this time.

Thank you.

Well, I've been to McDonald's already.

I guess next step is Disney World.

Well, being in the hospital, it make me more stronger person.

I take that as a--an experience. It's just a learning experience,

and it helps me to be more mature, also.

Lorena...

Well, men have to have a little bit more consideration

and respect a woman.

I think that's good.

I think that's probably a good place to cut this--

cut this short--that's about the best answer we can give...

After my release, I needed to set a goal.

Lorena, can we get one more smile?

Lorena, back here, babe. Lorena!

To go back to life

and start the process of healing,

I felt that no matter how public my face is,

I needed to go back to my routine.

Work, go home, and partially get my life back on track again.

And so this last chapter is nearly written

as Lorena Bobbitt is released into outpatient treatment

to last until the court deems otherwise,

and many other are hoping all this

brings the issue of domestic violence

to the forefront of the public consciousness.

Lorena Bobbitt used a knife! Lorena Bobbitt saved her life!

Lorena Bobbitt used a knife!

In the years leading up to the Bobbitt case,

there was a lot of activity and energy by advocates

trying to get the country to focus on domestic violence

and sexual harassment.

But it just wasn't happening fast enough.

In the late '80s, early '90s

local, state, and federal governments were very slow

to recognize and fund domestic violence.

There just wasn't a sense

that special resources were needed.

Domestic violence cases don't get national attention

because they're so ordinary-- they happen every day.

They're often considered a private matter that happens

between a man and his wife.

We cannot afford to wait any longer

to treat domestic violence as something

other than what it is-- a serious crime.

A spark for the Violence Against Women Act

came from Senator Joe Biden.

It was his baby.

Now who could be against that?

He found a Senate co-sponsor

on the other side of the aisle-- Orrin Hatch,

and the two of them were, nominally, the--the authors

of the Violence Against Women Act.

We were crafting legislation which had, as part of its focus,

a coordinated community response.

And you need to keep Ann and Cliff

apart from each other because you know...

Prior to 1991,

law enforcement's response to domestic violence

was more hands-off.

We would try to get the parties to calm down.

We'd try to get 'em to separate, maybe someone go for a walk.

Just literally have a time-out.

We were working on funding for police,

and funding for prosecutors, and funding for judges

to have training to understand these cases.

We hoped that trying to pass legislation

would bring domestic violence into the national attention.

But we also understood it's very, very hard

to get action.

John worked here, of course. He was our celebrity greeter,

if you will.

He came out here and, uh, we liked him,

and so, we ended up hiring him.

His name was big at the time, and we had him.

John started out at the door.

Somebody rings the buzzer. All the girls start lining up.

He would say, "Hello, I'm John Bobbitt.

Welcome to the world-famous Bunny Ranch."

And people would go...

They--they were shocked.

I--I gotta tell you. This was a big deal.

He was a tabloid titan.

The Bunny Ranch cannot advertise in Nevada,

but I can do promotion and media.

The tabloids, everybody, just loved it.

We were trying to teach him behind the bar,

but he wouldn't retain too much information.

He was kinda A.D.D. and scattered a little bit.

So, if he was behind the bar,

we'd have to have another bartender behind the bar too,

because he couldn't take over that whole bar.

Then we thought,

"We'll, uh, train him to drive the limo."

You'd give him a job to do

and he just didn't realize the gravity of it--

that--if you're supposed to drive the limo,

you're supposed to drive the limo.

You don't let, like, an 18-year-old drunk girl

drive the limo for you.

We hated him around the customers.

He, you know, he just felt like

everybody who came through the door was here for him.

"John, you can't talk to 'em for two and three hours,

"and get 'em drunk.

"We need to--we need to do that.

That's our job."

There's two sides of him--

the really nice guy, very mild mannered,

very pleasant.

Then... the stone, fucking asshole.

From nice guy to fucking asshole in three drinks.

When he'd drink, he became very, uh, verbally

and physically abusive.

And he would sit right at the very end of the bar

in that last bar seat-- that was his favorite.

Suzette absolutely demanded

that he could not drink on property.

And it became, uh, a violent argument,

and she let him go.

He had to be escorted off the property.

Well, some of his family members showed up at her house

and threatened her,

uh, to let John come back to work.

They all pulled up in, like, a posse--

six, seven people.

Car after car after car after car,

and I was kind of living out in the sticks at the time.

I'm thinking, "Ooh." And John was with them.

They started giving Suzette a hard time,

on the verge of violence.

I felt fearful enough for my life

that I went and got a--

I called the cops and got a restraining order.

Why in the hell would you rehire him to come back?

'Cause I'm media whore.

If the media value wasn't there,

there would not have been a second, third, fourth, fifth--

whatever amount of chances we gave him.

And next thing you know,

his family got in trouble,

and John was in the middle of it--

something over a--a--a store and stealing clothes.

John was taking clothes from a store.

Told this girl, "I'm a celebrity.

You should give me things."

It was $150,000 worth of clothing,

and the way that he got caught,

was that he was returning the clothing

to other stores in the same chain

to get cash.

And he got arrested for it.

He was, um, out on bail,

and so we had a birthday party for him.

It was his 32nd birthday.

So we thought, "Well, let's make an event out of it.

Invite the media."

I baked the cake. It had beautiful frosting--

"Happy Birthday, John."

I put this huge knife in it.

And then I put the red gel all around--

dripping around the knife and onto the cake.

We had all this stuff planned.

It was great... until John didn't show.

But he skipped bond.

Dennis put up a very substantial amount

to keep him out of jail.

He was nowhere to be found. He was on the run.

Neither you nor John were found guilty

in this particular case.

Was there no victim here?

Or were you both victims?

We're both were victims of a tragic situation.

Yes.

But as far as a crime-- was there no crime?

Yes, it was a crime. Two crimes.

Lorena is working with a Hollywood agent

to film the story of her life.

She wants to make some money, pay legal bills,

and then get on with her personal life.

The plan, initially, was to do either a television special,

or a motion picture on her life

that would tell the truth

outside of what the media was doing.

That became a real clear objective for me.

If we did get a half a million dollars for an interview,

the first money would go directly to this trust,

and the beneficiary of that trust,

would be Lorena only.

There'd be nobody else.

Alan, how he was,

making deals with Janna Bisutti--

she wanted me to sign a contract, which I did...

not knowing that I was signing away 15% to her.

The story was so sensational,

and everybody was getting their 15 minutes.

When I went to the courthouse,

the salon manager-owner,

she was talking about-- "Well, everything she's wearing,

"I got her.

"And she's lucky to have a friend like me.

"And if they want an interview,

they're gonna have to go through me."

She said, "They pay for everything,

"and you go first class.

"They give you money to go get clothes,

"and they set you up in a nice hotel,

and they give you a driver."

"Oh. Is there a therapist in there somewhere for Lorena?"

I really felt betrayed by Janna Bisutti.

That was very devastating. She was my confidant.

I look up to her.

And as much as it hurt, I had to say goodbye.

I didn't choose to be in the spotlight.

It wasn't intentional.

But for some reason, you know,

people thought that they can always

make money off of my story.

I just wanted to live a simple life.

I went through so much, and, um, I have to somehow

get the strength to--to move on.

That's exactly what I wanted to do.

I wanted to move on.

When I met John, I was about 19 years old.

We dated very briefly,

and I helped him get to Niagara Falls, New York.

John ran off with Desiree.

She'd worked here. She was a working girl.

So, they kinda hooked up and started being friends.

It was their dirty little secret

they were hiding from the king.

Desiree was a nice girl,

but if somebody comes and works for us,

you can't touch the girls.

You know, that's my merchandise. That's how I make my money.

You take one of the girls out, that's minus $50,000 a month.

It's like stealing from me.

You might as well reach into my pocket

and grab a few thousand dollars.

I drove John all the way

to Niagara Falls, New York...

back to his family.

When we got out there, John said to me,

"I don't have any money

"because I was living paycheck to paycheck,

and can you help me?"

So I helped him to secure an apartment.

But I lived cross-country.

I was paying the rent and supporting him.

I would come back and forth between where I lived

and to the apartment.

I was in this loop for a couple years with John.

I had come back to make sure that the apartment

was going to be taken out of our name

into just his name.

John flew off the handle and he beat me

with just about everything that was loose in that apartment.

John forcibly...took me...

out onto the balcony,

and pushed me over the edge of the balcony,

and was holding onto me by my lower legs

dangling me over the balcony, threatening to drop me.

People in the street saw what happened.

He pulled me back up by my hair, by my limbs,

drug me across the railing...

and I was thrown into the bedroom.

I was tied to the bed.

Stripped.

He...repeatedly raped me.

He sodomized me.

He told me that I was his Lorena now.

And neither she or I...

or anyone that he had been with would ever escape him.

After three days...

...almost endless torture...

I thought if I played dead, he would just leave me be.

And after trying to rile me, and talk to me,

and checking and see if I was still breathing,

he untied me,

and he started gathering sheets...

...like he was gonna wrap me up in them.

...he started to make his way to the door.

And I ran.

There was an accusation of a domestic

involving John Wayne Bobbitt and Desiree.

John Bobbitt was charged with harassment

which is a violation, um, under New York State penal law.

But nine times out of ten,

whenever I had a victim in front of me,

what they told the police officer at the scene

scratched the surface of what really happened.

There were no allegations of rape at the time,

so they did not collect a rape kit,

but because I knew that John Wayne Bobbitt

had a pretty significant history of domestic violence,

I knew that this was a case that I would have to try,

that I couldn't offer a lesser plea.

Luckily, we found that supportive evidence.

An 11- or 12-year-old child had been home sick that day,

and he heard some noise out in the hallway,

and pulled up a chair,

looked out the peephole,

and had seen John pulling Desiree--

dragging her, essentially, through the hallway.

And John Wayne Bobbitt was found guilty

and spent some time in jail.

I--I never used violence against another person...

pretty much ever.

Most men who abuse, continue to abuse throughout their lives.

The court does hereby accept your plea of "guilty,"

and upon it, you are found and are judged guilty,

and you are sentenced as follows.

There's probably a lot of women who were victimized--

women who were legitimately vic-victimized...

by men, alcoholics, abusive--you know--guys.

But these women who are opportunist gold diggers,

they use you as a stepping stone

to advance their career.

Just like the immigrant that marries a guy,

if it's not working out, they can do the same thing

as a gold digger.

Abusers often don't recognize themselves as abusers.

They often have a series of distorted ideas

that convince themselves that what they're doing is justified,

or that it's not so bad, or that she's exaggerating it.

There was a domestic violence dispute between John and I,

and I was injured.

John Bobbitt--

battery-- C519675A, battery.

These women, they know that their backup

is to use law enforcement to their advantage by saying,

"Well, you know what? If you leave,

"or you--you fuck up this relationship,

"or you--you don't get my citizenship,

I'll call the cops."

November 15 at 2:00 p.m. for trial.

Your Honor, uh, if it's proven that this, uh, victim is lying,

I would--I would ask the court--

I mean this is like the second time.

I mean, if she's--

I mean, I'd like her to be thrown in jail for contempt.

She's making this entire thing up. And if I...

Worse than what Lorena did to me,

what my second wife did-- devastation.

Lost everything. In and out of jail for ten months.

So, judge revoked my probation.

Then had to do the rest of the time in Lovelock--

where O.J. was.

So I spent, uh, 15 months there.

When I was in prison, I got, uh--uh--attacked.

Some guy clocked me from behind and knocked me out.

They said, "Well, you don't hit, you know, the sisters.

You don't hit the women," or whatever.

So I got attacked a few times.

Being a well-known person,

if you're in the prison system--

or jail, you're--you're a target.

The body of 34-year-old

Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of O.J. Simpson,

was found after midnight on the sidewalk

outside her West Los Angeles home.

Mr. Speaker, it is disturbing

that the death of Nicole Simpson should be necessary

to force us to take notice

of the horror of domestic violence.

I vigorously support the Violence Against Women Act.

We urgently need the $1.8 billion in this bill

to combat the epidemic of violence against women

on the streets and in the homes of America.

The Violence Against Women Act

was a landmark piece of legislation that told police,

"You need to take this seriously."

And it sent a signal to the country as a whole--

domestic violence is a crime.

This is something that we need to tackle as a country.

There had really never been anything

that addressed a women's issue that had actual money behind it.

Of course, what happened then,

was that in the '94 elections that fall,

Newt Gingrich swept in and turned the House Republican

from Democrat.

Even though the act was passed, and the money was authorized,

House Republicans refused to appropriate the money.

We've had this problem

going from then until now.

There's progress for feminism,

and then there's this other current

moving in the opposite direction.

You wonder--are we really gonna make a change?

Or were we just having a moment,

and then everybody then goes back to how it was before?

We won't go back!

We're here to confront and protest

all of the forms of violence against women.

And we're also here to send a message

to Newt Gingrich and his cronies back here behind me

that we won't go back!

It then took a lot of public pressure,

until finally in 1995, there was funding

for the Violence Against Women Act.

I had a party at my house

and we invited Lorena and her family.

We were being too loud and it was like 1:00 in the morning.

The police showed up.

And her father says, "Amalin, wait.

Let Lorena answer the door."

She was like, "No, Dad!"

The parents were all excited about the daughter

being kind of famous.

Everybody thought that after the trial,

everybody's gonna be fine and--and okay,

but my family and myself, we have to go through a lot.

After the trial, my family came from Venezuela.

So I know I have the support,

but they didn't have the legal status

to work in the United States.

I felt obligated to help my family,

but I also felt that all I wanted to do

was, uh, go back to school and, obviously, have a job.

What happened had a big effect on my family.

They didn't know how to handle it.

There was a lot of tension.

At one point, you know, my family and I,

we just didn't talk.

They didn't know how to help me.

They wanted to help me, but they didn't know how to.

I think it was after a year or so,

the turning point in my life came.

I started to go to shelters and talk about my experience

as a victim of domestic violence.

It was difficult at times to--to share the stories,

but the more I talked to them, the more I found out that

their stories are the same as mine.

I realized that I'm not alone,

and I wanted to keep talking more about it.

I was getting stronger and stronger.

I was healing.

And that's what lift me up,

and that's how I did it.

Look, I kinda-- kinda relate to Lorena,

'cause my--my mother went through the same thing.

There was a lot of anger in my family with my dad

and he was abusive.

My uncles, you know, would come over and beat him up

because he was... being violent or touching

their sister or... whatever.

Eventually, he ended up leaving,

and, um, my mother had a mental breakdown.

Very, very loving lady, but, um...

...she couldn't handle taking care of the children

and being in the condition she was in.

Father left us, so we lived in a ghetto.

At the time, there was a lot of hatred there.

We were attacked by, uh, African Americans...

'cause we were the only white family in a black community.

And, uh, my mother was raped twi--twice,

and, they, uh, attacked me, knocked me down,

busted my head open.

They burned down our house, so my uncle had to come save us.

Me and my two brothers were brought

into my aunt and uncle's family.

There were six boys,

um, so we all grew up together.

My biological mother, she would come around sometimes

during the holidays.

But she--she didn't come around, uh, that much, uh, after that.

Pretty much--pretty much kept to herself.

And, uh...

Then we had a--a pedophile uncle

that kind of abused us.

We were six, seven, eight.

He's passed away now, but you know, we kinda--

we were young and did alcohol and was involved and, you know--

he, you know, molest--molested some of us

and, you know-- we don't talk about it.

You know? So, uh...

Yeah, so...

Yeah.

Yeah.

My path to the American dream

had a lot of bumps,

but nothing really stopped me from getting it.

So I decided to go to school.

I went to college and I met David.

We start as friends and then our relationship grew.

The relationship changed my life

because he showed kindness

and, uh, loyalty and--and it was very important for me.

Friendship turned into love.

Ever since I've known her,

she's always tried to help women and children.

20-something years old, you know,

struggling, but also finding a way to go to the local shelter

and buy, you know,

eight kids and their parents Christmas presents.

She's not the messenger.

She's the one that goes in and gets the stuff done.

She's making the phone call, or she's gonna be the one

meeting the women.

She gives these women hope.

And that's the most important thing

is she's there for 'em.

I basically serve people.

To me, that was very important

to--to give, you know... anything.

What--what made you take it, though?

I mean, you cut it off--why you leave with it? That's what I--

You--you didn't think to just like lay it on the pillow,

so when he wake up--

you wake up...

I look at the media as a double-edged sword.

If I have a comedian like Steve Harvey, for example,

I understand what I was getting into

when I got an invitation from him.

But when you threw it out the window, though...

- Yeah. - ...that's the part--

- Now we got to go find it. - Yes.

I knew that the jokes are gonna be there,

but as long as I shine a light on the issue

of domestic violence,

how bad it is, it's worth it.

Well, I'm glad that after 22 years,

you still laugh about it.

And I'm here to tell you, and to tell everyone,

what happened when a woman gets abused by a man.

I went through the whole ordeal to have women understand that--

that they're not alone,

and they can escape domestic violence if they need to,

and claim their lives again like I did.

These are letters that John has sent to me.

Some of them I haven't opened.

So it says, "Dear Lorena,

"I miss you very much,

"and if there was a choice to have any woman in the world,

"it will be you.

"I love my wife.

"I love your--your heart,

"and I love you very much.

"From your cold, unsensitive husband--

"I just wanted to let you know

"that I thought about you today,

"and like always, it made me smile.

"You are also in my dreams.

Love always, John."

"Lorena, do you remember when you told me

"that I didn't know how to treat a woman?

"Well, you were right.

"I didn't know how to treat or love you.

"I did take a long hard look at myself,

"and I deeply regret being the way I was.

"And I think it has a lot to do with being...

"...a coldhearted, insensitive,

"self-centered, combat warrior.

"That's the way I always felt.

"I should've been a kind, caring, and sensitive,

loving, unselfish husband that understand my wife."

And he signed it "Your Eternal Flame."

Through all the years he have tried to keep in touch with me

by sending me, on Valentine's, cards,

and, uh, "I love you."

Sending correspondence to the places

that I used to work.

And why would he do this? You know.

Why would he just keep following me?

I think she contacted me first.

Uh, and--and she basically wanted to know

how much money I had and this and that,

so, um, I really didn't get into it.

And then later, I tried to contact her for closure.

Yeah, I wish--wish we could've done things differently.

Wish--wish--wish we could've talked,

wish we could've figured things out,

had a family together.

Me and Lorena getting back together,

that would be the ultimate love, the ultimate forgiveness--

that we, you know, sit down and reason things out,

and basically go over everything we went through,

and say, "You know what? We were young.

There's a lot we didn't know." Bury the hatchet, so to speak.

I mean, it's--you know, leave me alone.

I mean, it's--it's like, I cut his penis off.

I mean, just leave me alone.

This story was a modern love story.

Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl,

boy marries girl, boy abuses girl,

girl cuts off boy's penis,

national controversy and trial ensue.

Every man was imagining,

"What would this be like if this happened to me?"

Every woman was wondering what it would take

to do something like that,

and for many of them, they knew.

Over the years, I've come to see

how people could flip out,

'cause I've come to that point a couple times to myself,

where I could've went over the edge

and done something.

I'm glad I didn't, but eventually, you get there

and you understand.

They can cut a million clits off in Africa,

and nobody hears a word.

Cut one dick off, and the whole fuckin' country stops.

You know?

It's a man's world.

If Lorena's story hit today,

Fox News would take the place of Howard Stern,

and the 24-hour news cycle would focus on what she did

rather than what he did.

What it meant in 1993 is not that different

from what it means today.

There is a battle of the sexes.

We have just seen a whole 'nother supercharged element

with all of the Harvey Weinstein,

and Trump in the White House.

It's the same story.

It's that we never got to a point of--

anything that's truly equality.

We were being entertained on the fodder

of someone else's real, human suffering.

It's still going on.

And I don't know when we're gonna wake up.