Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2130

Tonight's special guest is Barbara Albuquerque from Dania Beach, Florida. Her mother, using heroin, gave birth to Barbara, who was born with withdrawals. Her father placed Barbara, only a few months old, with a 'friend,' who frequently hit her. At 7-8, Barbara was severely beaten on the head. At 11, Barbara was placed with another woman. Her husband was one of 2 men who repeatedly raped her. Barbara ran away, but police took her home. After running away again, she was placed in foster care, then in a group home, where she met a heroin addict who started pimping her out at the age of 12. Barbara fought back, but the man violently raped her, breaking a bottle over her head. She managed to escape. The case went to the Supreme Court where Barbara went through a rape trial by herself. Back in the group home, Barbara and 2 other girls were arrested and sent to a detention center for teenagers. Released at 16, she was sent back to the original 'friend’s' house, until kicked out at 18, with “no skills, no emotional intelligence and no family.” She went to Miami, worked at a bar, and was raped at gunpoint. She met a man, a drug addict 14 years her senior, and had 2 kids with him, amid many violent fights, one resulting in stitches under her right eye. Her husband had an affair and left. Suffering severe depression, Barbara told a police officer she wanted to die, and the officer took her where she received help: “They gave me medication that helped me enough that I had the mindset to move back to Miami with my two kids now 13 and 14.” Barbara taught herself to read and passed the GED. At 40, Barbara started reading self-help books and seeing a therapist, “The best thing I ever did in my life.” She learned to love and respect herself. She met a wonderful man in 2012 and got married. In 2013, her son made her a grandmother.