On July 9th, 2018, Brett Kavanaugh was nominated to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Shortly after his nomination, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, came forward through a letter addressed to Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee about Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulting her while in high school. According to the New York Times, Blasey Ford took a polygraph exam afterward, and the results indicated that she was “being truthful” and that there was “deception indicated,” according to the conductor of the exam, Jerry Hanafin. Brett Kavanaugh denied the accusation, and the Judiciary Committee vote became delayed after alleged accusations. Soon after, a former classmate from Yale University, Deborah Ramirez, came forward about Kavanaugh exposing himself to her at a party while in college. Kavanaugh also denied this allegation, and stated to the New Yorker, stating that “this is a smear, plain and simple.”
Since then, multiple other women have also come forward with allegations toward Kavanaugh, all of which he has denied. On September 27, 2018, Kavanaugh and Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The hearings were riveted with emotion, and even led to Kavanaugh becoming livid and tearful, and even going off script and stating that the allegations are a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, Kavanaugh accused Democrats of resorting to using the allegation to stop his nomination after failing to “take [him] out on merits.” Kavanaugh also continued to deny the allegations of sexual misconduct against Ford and any other woman that came forward. The following day, the Senate Judiciary Committee moved ahead with a 9:30 a.m. hearing on Kavanaugh then scheduled a 1:30 p.m. vote. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 to send the nomination to the floor, where the Senate will decide whether or not to proceed with the nomination.
The women have been notoriously threatened with death threats, hate comments, and a slew of harassment ever since they have come forward. With people discrediting their stories calling them “liars” and “attempting to ruin a man’s career.” It is dangerous and unethical to discredit a woman’s story of sexual assault when coming forward because it is always about the risk of a man’s career being ruined, but never about the woman’s life. In order to shift this dangerous culture of victim blaming, we must listen, trust, and believe women and their stories in this critical era of the #MeToo movement.
Source(s):
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-accusers-women.html