I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, and Debbie Swetnick, three women that have come forward accusing prospective Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual abuse.
And it's not because this could undermine Kavanaugh's crusade for the Supreme Court, nor is it because I personally disagree with Kavanaugh's political views.
It is because for far too long, as we have seen in the wave of #MeToo, for far too long victims of sexual abuse have been stigmatized into silence for practically their entire lifetimes.
If you don't believe me on that, take a look at the backlash that Dr. Ford has received following her coming out. Since her bombshell accusation, Ford has received an unprecedented amount of death threats and trolling online. Her lawyer even claims that she cannot even go out in public without fearing for her safety. With that being said, Dr. Ford is some sense a hero, and a martyr, for women who have been intimidated for silence for so long. She, along with Ramirez, Swetnick, and any others who might come forward after this article's publishing, will join the ranks of figures like Anita Hill in challenging people on the road to join one of the oldest institutions in the land.
The debacle surrounding this political deja vu is another reflection of how American society has failed to recognize and react to survivors of sexual assault and the stories that they tell. I believe these women because no right-minded person would be as heinous as to lie about such stories. And anyone in the unlikely event that does so should be ashamed.
We are in a pivotal moment where we are beginning to see survivors be empowered and subsequently heard by the power of #MeToo. These stories we are hearing with Ford, Ramirez, and Swetnick matter because the culture has changed. Instead of asking why they took so long, we should be looking at social attitudes towards sexual assault rather than jumping to conclusions that blame the victim.
Donald Trump has said that a man like Kavanaugh "doesn't deserve this." Well, Mr. President, I say this: Kavanaugh's accusers did not deserve what happened to them. Survivors of sexual assault, both told and untold, did not deserve what happened to them. If men and women alike do not want to be accused of sexual assault, then I'll recite a phrase that we have all learned in elementary school: keep your hands to yourself. And if Congress doesn't take into account the stories of Kavanaugh's accusers, then it is further proof that as a society we need to continue leading the dialogue when it comes to sexual assault.
