(Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
You knew it was inevitable. As soon as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward as the woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of attempted rape, you knew the reaction from the right would be immediate and terrible. Blasey Ford knew it too, but as she told the Washington Post, “Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation.”
According to Politico’s Kevin Robillard, the president is reportedly gearing up to attack Blasey Ford, while others have already begun. Some have been over the top — Megyn Kelly hypothesizes the case against Blasey Ford will be, “Maybe he blew her off and she had an axe to grind.” But most have been insidious attempts at undermining Blasey Ford and what she has to say.
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Conservative columnist Erik Erickson said it is not a “credible” accusation, called Blasey Ford’s story “character assassination”, and points out the lack of witnesses as if that’s dispositive. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk calls the story a “35-year-old accusation with sketchy backstory.” Even Above the Law’s own David Lat is subtly pushing a narrative that the way Blasey Ford reacted to the alleged sexual assault was somehow wrong and should cast doubt on whether she’s believed, saying “she told nobody contemporaneously (unlike many other alleged victims of sexual assault)” (though he does, notably, push for full hearings on the matter).
But here’s the thing — there is no playbook for the proper way to deal with attempted rape. There is no checklist. There is no amount of right steps that must be done in order to be believed (and even if there were, it would be a constantly moving goalpost). Focusing on what you, the outside observer, think Blasey Ford should have done undermines all victims of sexual assault.
Thankfully there’s a chorus of important women taking up the cause of Blasey Ford. They point out that far from casting doubt on her story, Blasey Ford’s hesitancy in coming forward now and silence at the time of the alleged incident is exactly what you’d expect from a teenager who was assaulted by someone she knew in the 1980s:
I saw sincerely, what you may fail to understand is that for women who were in HS in 80s (& even later), it’s credible. Happened all the time. We didn’t talk about it, tried to forget it. But fact that it was common didn’t diminish the toll it took. And that bill has come due. https://t.co/m7L0LCtwWm
— Jennifer Palmieri (@jmpalmieri) September 17, 2018
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https://twitter.com/kaplanrobbie/status/1041434376628842496
https://twitter.com/helaineolen/status/1041391156578463745
And, in a perfect mirror to the letter the GOP released suspiciously quickly after the accusations against Kavanaugh became public, signed by 65 women he knew in high school saying he “behaved honorably and treated women with respect,” there’s a letter being circulated signed by alumnae of Blasey Ford’s high school. This letter is unambiguous in its support, “We believe Dr. Blasey Ford and are grateful that she came forward to tell her story.” And it notes that the allegation “is all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton. Many of us are survivors ourselves.”
This is an important story that I’m sure we’ll all spend a lot of time talking and thinking about — and we should. But it is also vital to remember that how we choose to frame the allegations and discussion matters. Overwriting Blasey Ford’s story with how you think a “real” victim would act does damage to the lived experiences of so many survivors. If the #metoo movement has shown us anything, it’s that people who have lived through sexual assault and harassment are everywhere — they’re people you know — so stop acting like victims have to behave a certain way if they get to be believed.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).