Blanca Vizquel’s right hand rests on Omar Vizquel’s chest and her left hand is draped over his shoulder as the couple pose for a poolside photograph during a vacation to the Dominican Republic almost five years ago. Hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail, Blanca is beaming. Omar, her husband, dressed in a striped button-down shirt, grins. The couple appears rested, happy
Underneath the photo, posted on Jan. 7, 2016, on Omar’s Instagram account, reads the caption: “Felicitaciones a mi polli preciosa en su Cumpleanos. Q sigas tan linda como siempre. Eres mi rayito de sol y campanera incondicional te amo.”
“Congratulations to my precious little chicken (Omar’s nickname for Blanca) on her birthday. Stay as cute as ever. You are my ray of sunshine and unconditional partner, I love you.”
Ten days after that was posted, Omar was led out of the couple’s home in Sammamish, Washington, in handcuffs and ushered into a police car. Blanca remained inside the house, in her room, shaking and fearful, calling friends, distraught over what had occurred, concerned about what would come next.
“It’s devastating because the person you love is supposed to protect you, and when (he’s) the one who’s hurting you … it’s like slow motion and you’re scared and then the police are there, and you know you can’t take it back,” Blanca told The Athletic.
For years, Blanca remained mostly quiet about the abuse she endured. But in August, after six years of marriage and after what she described as one last volatile interaction with Omar, she fled their home in Arizona, spent time in a women’s shelter and then, less than a week later, initiated divorce proceedings. In an Instagram live video posted on Oct. 7, she announced in Spanish that “no one deserves to have violence against them.”