50% Of Lesbian Women Report Physical Abuse From An Intimate Partner

The stat no one seems to talk about

I can’t get the picture out of my head. Her whole face was black and blue, her nose was flattened and off center, and her eyes were all but swollen shut. It was hard to believe she had taken the picture herself. It’s the worst condition of someone’s face I have ever seen — who was still alive.

I sat in the airport terminal next to my girlfriend, dumbfounded, sick to my stomach. She had pulled the photo up on her phone, which the victim had posted on Facebook, then she hastily put it away as they called our group to begin boarding the flight home.

To clarify, my girlfriend is my girl-friend, not my romantic partner. She’s a gay woman who had recently started dating someone new. The photo was of the face of her new girlfriend's last intimate partner.

I’m happy to report that my friend’s relationship didn’t last, though it didn’t end that day. They had been dating for about a month when we saw the photo, and it lasted another month or two after. I wanted her to end it immediately, but it was not my call.