**Trigger Warning: Graphic details on sexual assault, rape, and abuse.**
Brett Kavanaugh was nominated by President Trump to the Supreme Court as a replacement for Anthony Kennedy after he announced his retirement. However, last week, senior Republican staff discovered allegations against Kavanaugh and expressed concern about the impact of these accusations on Kavanaugh’s candidacy. According to the Democratic senators investigating the case, one incident in which Kavanaugh assaulted a woman dates back to 1983, his freshman year of college. Kavanaugh attended Yale University with Deborah Ramirez, the alleged victim. Ramirez studied sociology and psychology and worked for an organization that aids domestic violence victims.
When a variety of news stations asked Ramirez to speak out against Kavanaugh, she was hesitant, as she did not enjoy the overwhelming attention. Moreover, she did not wish to speak of the incident due to the fact that her memory was vague as she had been drinking during the supposed attack. However, after about six days of convening with her attorney and reassessing her memories of that dark night, Ramirez spoke about her horrific experience with Kavanaugh. Subsequently, Ramirez informed journalists that Kavanaugh was drunk at a college party, where he flashed everyone, shoved his genitals in her face, and forced her into non-consensual touching of his penis as she resisted.
Ramirez described the incident in detail and stated that she and a group of students were playing a drinking game in which she was chosen most of the time to drink. She became so drunk that her visuals were impaired, and she was slurring her words. Suddenly, a man, now identified as Kavanaugh, thrust his penis into her face. Ramirez, a devout Catholic, did not expect to touch a man’s privates until she was married. However, Ramirez alleges that the part of the incident she is most traumatized by, and still remembers vividly to this day, is that the students, especially Kavanaugh, were laughing at her and taunting her. As Ramirez is now more open to speaking about the alleged incident, she requested for an F.B.I. Investigation to take place. While Ramirez knows that she has many inconsistencies and gaps in her story and knows she will be questioned about her motives, she, nonetheless, is certain that requesting an F.B.I. Investigation is the right thing to do.
Kavanaugh and Ramirez shared many friends throughout their years at Yale. However, each friend recalls the alleged incident differently. While some of their friends are siding with Kavanaugh, others are siding with Ramirez. Some have openly stated that Ramirez is, and has always been, a trustworthy individual who would never fabricate such a story. Other friends state that while Kavanaugh was the life of the party and constantly became intoxicated, they did not witness the assault and do not believe that he would engage in such behavior. They argue that Ramirez is politically motivated, as she is a Democrat.
Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegation, contending that he never assaulted Ramirez. He proceeded to argue that anyone who knew him 35 years ago would back him up and would know he would never do such a malicious thing. Kavanaugh asserts, “I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name—and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building—against these last-minute allegations.”
Before Ramirez spoke out against her attacker another woman, Christine Blasey Ford, now a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California also accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Ford spoke of an incident, similar to Ramirez’s, at a high school party during the summer of 1982. At the time of the alleged incident, Ford was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17. At the party, Kavanaugh was intoxicated and allegedly threw Ford into a bedroom, locked it and forcibly shut her mouth to silence her screaming while stripping her.
Although the allegations leveled against Kavanaugh are grave, the current administration fully endorses Kavanaugh. Kerri Kupec, a White House correspondent, stated that the administration is certain that these assault allegations are false and inaccurate because they are part of another one of the Democrats’ schemes to break down a good-willed Republican. However, if the allegations made by Ramirez and Ford turn out to be true, it would imply that Kavanaugh was involved in the sexual assault of at least two women during his high school and college years. Consequently, the veracity of these allegations should be investigated thoroughly. Should the findings of such an investigation turn up that these allegations are true, Kavanaugh would be unfit to serve on the highest court of our nation.
If you or someone close to you has been a victim of sexual assault, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673 or go to https://www.nsvrc.org/find-help
Source:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/senate-democrats-investigate-a-…