After months of the public knowing about an anonymous sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee for Supreme Court Justice, the anonymous woman, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, finally decided to make her identity public on September 16, 2018. Dr. Ford’s allegation against Kavanaugh has rocked what was expected to be a smooth Supreme Court confirmation, igniting another chapter of the #MeToo movement and all the backlash that comes along with it. Although the sexual assault occurred in the summer of 1982, when Dr. Ford was 15 and Mr. Kavanaugh was 17 years old, the damage that this horrific event created is still just as raw 36 years later. People are still wondering, who is Dr. Ford and what exactly happened that night?
Dr. Ford’s academic history is exceptional and it is almost shocking that many of us did not know her name before the sexual assault scandal. Dr. Ford completed her undergraduate degree at UNC Chapel Hill in 1998 and afterwards received her master’s in psychology at Pepperdine University. Soon after she got her Ph.D. in education psychology at the University of Southern California and then in 2009, she gained her master’s in epidemiology at Stanford. Ford began teaching at Stanford in 1988 and now works at Palo Alto University. Ford has also written and co-written over 50 scientific publications, focusing on a wide range of issues covering depression, child abuse, and the September 11th attacks.
The details of Ford’s assault are extremely disturbing, as she describes being held down by Kavanaugh, while another boy watched him grope her and simultaneously attempt to rip her clothes off. Ford also recounts Kavanaugh covering her mouth to muffle her cries for help and grind on her until she was able to escape.
Ford’s precise narrative of the night seems extremely hard to fabricate, yet that has not stopped the public from victim blaming and shaming her. President Trump has made his stance on the issue perfectly clear as well, tweeting that he stands with Kavanaugh, while denouncing Ford’s account of the assault.
“Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay. Facts don’t matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C.” – Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!” – Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Kavanaugh has also flat out denied the assault saying in a public statement that, “This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday. I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”
Dr. Ford has since announced on Saturday, September 22 that she will testify against Kavanaugh to Congress at an undecided time next week.
The results of Ford’s testimony and Kavanaugh’s nomination will play a crucial role in the Me Too movement’s progress to stop the victim blaming that comes along with sexual assault allegations. The fact that the president of the United States continues to support Kavanaugh despite the horrific assault shows that our country has a long way to come. It’s time we start to believe survivors and stop the twisted effect that rape culture has on girls and women everywhere.
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