On 22nd January, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Laura Vicuña, who is the patron of abuse victims. She was born in Chile in 1891, and died on 22nd January, 1904. After her father died, Laura's mother took her to Argentina, where she was educated by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. She felt a call to religious life from an early age, dedicating herself to God while she was still too young to follow her vocation to join the Salesian Sisters. 

Her short life was greatly troubled by abuse in her home, and she prayed especially that her mother would be delivered from the physical and spiritual danger she lived in, as the mistress of her violent employer. While she was severely ill with tuberculosis, Laura was beaten unconscious by this man. She died eight days later, comforted by her mother's promise to return to the Church and leave her abusive partner.

She was beatified in 1988.