By Marley Cruise
A few weeks ago, the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings happened, since then the gender studies class I’m in has had fairly consistent discussions about it. Whatever a person’s views or opinions are on the hearing – I think most people can agree that this is an important case and that we should continue to talk about. Here is some background for those who haven’t kept track of the events: in late July, after president Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the supreme court, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford contacted Senator Dianne Feinstein in a letter wishing to remain anonymous. In this letter, she retold the events of her sexual assault that occurred in the early 80s naming Kavanaugh and one of his friends as her attackers. In between her first contact and going public with her allegation. Ford took a polygraph test that confirms that she was not lying about the events of that night. It should be noted that in a criminal case a polygraph is not necessarily good evidence; it is easy to beat and can only prove that that the one taking the test believes what they are saying. After Ford’s accusation went public, Kavanagh and the friend that Ford also named denied that the event ever happened. In response to the alligation, a public hearing date was set for September 27, 2018. In the time between the setting of the hearing date and the hearing itself, other women came forward with allegations.
At the hearing, both Ford and Kavanaugh were clearly distressed. Ford gave her account of the night she was attacked saying that when she was fifteen she went to a small party with four boys. While at this party, she claims that Kavanaugh and his friend pushed her into a room, held her down, and tried to take her clothes off. She said that both boys were visibly drunk, and at one point Kavanaugh covered her mouth to keep her from screaming to the point where she was afraid that he might accidentally kill her. What she remembers the most though is that she remembers her attackers were laughing. She was calm while giving her testimony and attempted to answer every question sent her way. She became clearly upset and teary in certain moments. When asked if she was sure that Kavanaugh was her attacker, she said she was 100 percent sure. Kavanaugh on the other hand was angry. Kavanaugh railed against the hearing, the people asking questions, and went so far as to claim that the whole hearing was arranged by democrats and the Clintons as a “political hit.” As far as the allegation was concerned, he denied ever being at the party citing calendars that he kept at that time. He also stated that while he did sometimes drink too much in high school, he never drank to the point of blacking out and had never assaulted anyone. He went on to say that the accusation and hearing had ruined his reputation and life as well as the life of his family. The committee voted in favor of keeping Kavanaugh’s nomination. On October 6 he was confirmed for the supreme court despite many objections.
The American public is now faced with a variety of questions. Who do you believe? Why do you believe who you believe? What do we do in situations like this in the future? The latter of these questions is what has been preoccupying the minds of students in my gender studies class. We always come back to wondering how you provide proof and justice in a “he said-she said” situation. There is a reason that only a third of rapes are ever reported? That has as much to do with our society’s general attitude about rape and sexual assault? As it does with the fact that after an assault victims want nothing more than to hide and clean themselves. While I avidly believe victims, the court system is based on the concept of “beyond a reasonable doubt” in order to minimize wrongful convictions. My class has circled these questions for weeks and still we can’t answer.
How can we be certain?