Watching the debacle of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, hearing, and mishandling of the sexual assault allegations which he is facing, has left a sour taste in the mouths of many Americans across the country, myself included. The suspicion and disrespect expressed towards Dr. Christine Blasey Ford both when she came forward with the accusation of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh and during the hearing have been disheartening to say the least. In the wake of public concerns about Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court, our president has stated that right now is “a very scary time for young men in America.”
President Trump seems to have made this comment in regards to men facing sexual assault allegations. The irony of declaring it a “very scary time” for young men in the midst of an anti-sexual assault movement, led primarily by women, who are frequently more at risk for sexual assault, seems to be lost on the president.
President Trump’s comments suggest that false accusations of sexual assault are wreaking havoc in our society, but according to the studies conducted by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, that’s just not true. It’s estimated that 63% of sexual assaults are never even reported to the police, and only 2-10% of sexual assault reports are ‘false’, meaning that these reports don’t meet the legal criteria for rape, not necessarily that no sexual assault occurred.
Therefore, there really isn’t a reason for young men to be frightened of the anti-sexual assault movement, unless they have committed sexual assault or have put themselves in a situation to be credibly accused of sexual assault. And if either one of those is the case, perhaps those men should be afraid, because they may have to face consequences for their actions.
But even for men who have committed sexual assault or are in a position to be credibly accused of sexual assault, how afraid should they really be? For all the rhetoric about the lives of these men being ruined, the reality is that few face severe, tangible consequences for sexual assault. Cases like that of Brock Turner, who was convicted on three counts of sexual assault, but only sentenced to six month in jail and only served three of those months, have made the leniency of any consequences painfully clear. Similarly, despite the damage to his reputation, Judge Kavanaugh has not even withdrawn his bid for the available seat on the Supreme Court as a result of the allegations he is facing, and has yet to be held accountable for Dr. Ford’s allegations.
President Trump’s remarks suggest that movements like #MeToo and the recent strike by McDonald’s workers to protest sexual assault at work are something to be feared by men who may be wrongfully accused. However, only men who have committed sexual assault have reason to be nervous, and even those hardly have cause to be quaking in their shoes.
You know who this is a really scary time for in America right now? Survivors of sexual assault who are watching as our current president mocks those coming forward with their stories of survival and trauma. It’s a scary time for women, who are watching a powerful faction of the government work desperately to push Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation on the Supreme Court through, disregarding the multiple accusations of sexual assault against him so that they can revisit Wade vs. Roe.
It was “scary” when our country elected a president who thinks it’s okay to grab women by their genitalia. It is terrifying for me and many others to know that rather than cracking down on men who commit sexual assault, our country is rewarding them with positions of power. What message does that send to both those who have committed sexual assault and those who have been assaulted? Those answers frighten me. President Trump, it is not “a very scary time for young men in America,” but it is an absolute nightmare for sexual assault survivors, and a frightening time to be a young woman, watching our country continue to support the men who may have committed sexual assault rather than the people they have assaulted.