
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 16, 1994                   TAG: 9401160125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOBBITT MAY HURT ABUSE CAUSE

She has become fodder for cartoons, jokes and T-shirts depicting her as a knife-wielding vixen. This past week, though, Lorena Bobbitt portrayed herself as a victim of one of America's social ills - domestic violence.

In emotional and graphic testimony, Bobbitt said her husband, John, punched and choked her and forced her to have sex with him over four years, abuse that drove her to cut off his penis in June. Bobbitt has denied attacking his wife; he was acquitted of marital sexual assault last year.

Some domestic violence experts say that while Bobbitt's defense paints her as the classic battered woman, they're not optimistic her trial - and the intense spotlight - will help their cause.

"I don't know that she will be an example for others," said Susan Hadley, founder and director of WomanKind Inc., a model domestic violence program in Minnesota. "She's a bad victim. We like women victims who are beaten up and assaulted . . . and don't do anything blatant."

"The male establishment in this culture is going to focus on the severed penis so long, the fact that she survived in an incredibly controlling and abusive relationship will always be lost," Hadley added. "She will always be someone who overreacted. We lose the fact this woman lived as a captive and in fear."

Others point to the obvious: If this had been a simple domestic violence trial, it never would have captured the public's attention - much less turned into a media circus with Bobbitt appearing in Vanity Fair and her husband cashing in as a celebrity, sharing the stage with Howard Stern.

"Just regular batterings don't seem to draw anyone's attention," said Rita Smith, program coordinator for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "The fact that women are terrified every day in their homes isn't enough. That's what we struggle with."

"It's part of the larger social direction we've taken," she added. "Everything has to be bigger, better. In order to be a story, you've got to compete with Sylvester Stallone. It's got to be sensational to even get into print."

Some activists say even though the couple's battles have become the stuff of punch lines for late-night TV hosts, they're optimistic last week's witnesses for Lorena Bobbitt may shift public opinion.

"Up to now, it's been a snickering circus with a lot of attention paid to his unusual injury," said Kim Gandy, executive vice president of the National Organization for Women. "[But] all this talking about what he did to her is causing people around the country to say, `Oh my God, how awful, what a terrible situation to live under. . . . What are we going to do to keep this from happening in the future?' "

Even so, others say it's hard to change embedded societal perceptions.

"We have such a `blame the victim' mentality that even if she is a victim of domestic abuse, we'll always remember what she did to get back at him," Hadley said.

by CNB