Just that. My lovely friend was in a gay relationship with his horrific brutal partner. He has suffered life altering injuries. I knew he was being victimised and abused, believe me I tried to support him. (I live 250 miles away).
When the police were called and said it was “male on male” violence, I knew he was cut off and over looked, my friend has never raised a hand to anybody. He stopped calling the police because they made him feel like he asked for it. I spoke to his sister and we reached out to his other friends that he had been cut off from. We KNEW. We documented everything we could and we made sure (the rare times we could get in touch) our friend knew that we would stand with him. We phoned the police collectively when we knew he was being held prisoner in his flat and if we went near he would suffer.
His partner was removed for fraudulently using his bank card and the police found my friend covered in bruises and locked in a room.
He went through a court case and the partner got off on a suspended sentence with a tag (what a joke that is). We made sure he had a ring doorbell and within 24 hours there he was punching my now disabled friend in the face. He’s on remand now.
My friend is living with the consequences and he will never ever be able to work in his chosen field again. He’s had 3 strokes. His ribs will never be fixed. His nose is smashed just like his jaw and his left ankle was snapped and that’s before I say about the terror he had of going to sleep.
If you are worried… follow your instincts and never ever give up on them.
For all of the Men and Women trapped in relationships like this… we won’t let you down. You are not alone.
There is no AIBU here. Just follow your instincts and if you are worried about a friend then reach out or make the call. NO MORE.