Many people are questioning why Dr. Ford didn’t come out about the assault earlier, not years later when she found out her attacker was a Supreme Court nominee. President Trump obviously got involved- like most of the United States expected- by attacking Dr. Ford in a series of tweets. The same man who has multiple sexual misconduct allegations, has bragged about sexual assault, and publicly admitted to thinking of women as ‘gold diggers’ He tweeted “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filled with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents. I ask that she brings those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!” -Donald J. Trump, Twitter (sept. 21st, 2018) 6:14am. He also tweeted”The radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved NOW.Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?” 6:29am, September 21st, 2018.

Believe it or not, it is actually very common for sexual assault and rape victims to keep their trauma to themselves. This is brought up time and time again whenever a powerful man is accused of rape or assault- and for good reason. Many times when a woman comes out about her trauma (the Kavanaugh piece being the prime example), she is shot down and torn to pieces. Being told that she ‘made it up’ to ruin the man’s reputation, and that she is ‘lying’ for her own personal benefit.

       Dr. Christine Ford suffered in silence for many years, and has actually confessed that she didn’t want to come out publicly about the assault until after the letter from Senator Dianne Feinstein was leaked. She feared the repercussions. Feinstein didn’t get out clean, however. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Chuck Grassley, has accused that Feinstein “chose to sit on the allegations until a politically opportune moment,” and demanded that she release the letter from Dr. Ford publicly.

       There is a hashtag circulating on Twitter, going by #WhyIdidntreport. It is full of women (and men) who were all sexually assaulted and raped, and their reasons for not bringing it up to the police or FBI. Some of the tweets include “I did report, but it was dismissed by the police. I know what it is like. I understand the shame and humiliation and why people don’t report. Women deserve to be treated with the dignity that is due to every human being.” Janet Garrett (@Janet4OH) and “Because I had never seen a survivor come forward and be treated with dignity, so why would I believe my case would be different?” Miss Michigan (@MissAmericaMI). There are thousands of these stories, and the hashtag was only created on September 21st, 2018. Sexual assault is looked over all the time, and when it is brought up on a powerful man, the women is degraded. Torn apart, and belittled. If Brett Kavanaugh does become a Supreme Court judge (a lifetime appointment), the justice system faces another one of his fatal flaws: He may judge cases of rape and sexual assault unfairly, as he has been in the position of the perpetrator himself.