MANASSAS, VIRGINIA: Lorena Bobbitt believes domestic violence is no longer seen as a "punchline" in society since she sliced off her ex-husband John Wayne's penis in a desperate act of self-defense after he raped her. It's been 30 years since that fateful night but Bobbitt, who now goes by her maiden name Gallo, has no regrets about her decision as she says people now understand the gravity of domestic violence.
“I believe people’s views on domestic violence have changed over the years,” she told Daily Mail earlier this week. The 54-year-old continued by noting that her story was not a joke, it was her life. "With the advancement in technology and how the news is relayed through many different sources, it's helped people understand the seriousness of it and they don't look at it as a punchline," she continued. Bobbitt was just 24 when she cut off John's genitals as he slept, on June 23, 1993.
‘I wasn't in my right mindset’
Bobbitt then drove away and dumped the organ into a field before telling the police about what she had done. After she provided the precise location, authorities were able to find John's genitals, and it was reattached following a 10-hour surgery. She accused John, whom she divorced in 1995, of rape and abuse prior to the attack. She later went to trial after she was charged with malicious wounding, and John was also prosecuted after he was charged with marital sexual assault. Following the trial, Bobbitt was sent to a mental hospital, from where she was discharged after a month.
Nearly 25 years after the incident, Bobbitt told the 'Today Show' she had no regrets over chopping off her ex-partner’s penis. "Oh my god, how could you regret something that was not planned?" Lorena said in her first TV interview in 2019. "I mean, how could you? You have to understand, I wasn't in my right mindset," she added.
Bobbitt and John, who went on to launch a career in adult entertainment and starred in the film 'Frankenpenis', officially divorced in 1995 but the latter continued to reach out to the former and make advances. "He tried to reach out to me through my foundation and often posts rude comments and bad reviews on my foundation's Facebook page—which is a sign of being controlling and mentally abusive, 20 years later," she told Oprah Daily in 2020.
Where is Lorena Bobbitt now?
Following her divorce from John, Bobbitt moved to Las Vegas in 1997. However, she returned to Virginia, where she married her now husband, Dave Bellinger. The couple had their daughter, Olivia, in 2005. Speaking about her life, Bobbitt previously said in an interview, “For many years, I kept a low profile and I avoided the attention. I felt that it was the right thing to do, to come forward with my story. If I could help at least one person to escape domestic violence then all my pain and suffering that I went through was not in vain.”
In addition to her work as a public speaker, reaching out to scholastic programs, private sectors and the Latinx community, Bobbit has become a dedicated advocate for survivors and victims of domestic abuse, which she says does not discriminate based on age, gender or race. She currently runs the Lorena Gallo Foundation, which focuses on domestic abuse issues. She even volunteers at shelters for victims of domestic violence. “It will be a place where they can go and feel safe with their children, escaping their abusers, especially now in the middle of this pandemic,” she said in the same interview.
