With all the latest controversy over the Brett Kavanaugh accusations, along with questionable and derogatory comments made by the President, I think it’s fair to say we’re living among people who simply do not care about victims of sexual assault. First and foremost, it’s important to address the fact that our own President has been accused of multiple sexual assault allegations, not to mention the offensive and disparaging remarks he makes toward women every other day. Regardless of whether these allegations against the President and Kavanaugh, a now confirmed Supreme Court justice, are true or not, the fact remaining is that individuals who could be perpetrators are leading our country. What does this say about our society as a whole? Is it that people don’t care about victims of sexual assault? Or that we’d rather ignore what happens to people behind closed doors? It is truly shameful that in the year 2018, when we finally think that as a nation we’ve progressed in terms of gender and racial equality, we’ve instead propelled back to our old ways. If people who are in the highest positions of power can have various sexual assault allegations tied to them, or commit crimes without punishment, what kind of example is being set for the rest of the country? That it’s okay for people to be assaulted? Or that people who have committed these heinous crimes will never be penalized?
(Photo by Alexa Mazzarello)
Since the Kavanaugh allegations have been made, social media has been overflowing with controversy over his innocence, or lack thereof, over the allegations made against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Many people claim that Dr. Ford is lying about the incident she accuses Kavanaugh of because she waited so long to come forward. This is the part I have trouble understanding: why is it some people’s first instinct to disbelieve the victim? For instance, the first thing I hear many people say is, “Well, why didn’t she come forward sooner? Why didn’t she tell anybody when it first happened? Why would she wait all these years?” Or they’ll make comments like, “Well, was she drinking? What was she wearing? Was she a promiscuous girl?”
I don’t understand how anyone can equate any of these factors with sexual assault. The only reason why people are assaulted is because someone chooses to assault them. There are no other reasons, and there is no reason to blame the victim. It has nothing to do with if she was drunk, if she was wearing a short skirt, etc. It is crucial that we listen to one another instead of blaming survivors who come forward about an incident that was traumatizing for them. We need to ask each other why our first instinct is to blame survivors, and why we don’t just listen to one another. We need to do better as a country, and we need to be kinder to one another.