Dr. Ford Deserves Our Respect
On Tuesday, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was officially appointed to the Supreme Court. His appointment marked the conclusion of a long, arduous battle not just between Democrats and Republicans, but also between people who held different beliefs about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony.
The selection of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is certainly disappointing, but it is not at all surprising. If our country can elect a man who “grabs women by the pussy” and has been accused of sexual misconduct to the highest office of presidency, then nothing is stopping a possible perpetrator of sexual assault from assuming a position on the Supreme Court. When America elected Donald Trump as president, it proved that as a country, we are still grossly incompetent when it comes to believing victims of sexual harassment or assault and ensuring that the accused face the appropriate consequences. It is sad to see that nothing has really changed.
Kavanaugh’s case wielded so much power in the media and in people’s minds because of what it represents: if he can make it to the Supreme Court, what does it mean for other alleged perpetrators of sexual assault when it comes to attaining influential positions in the workplace? This does not apply only to officials of the US government, but also to men and women who hold considerable amounts of power in their everyday job positions, such as bosses or senior managers. If Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth, which I believe she is, I commend her for standing for truth and justice even as she is faced with a barrage of personal attacks and physical threats. She has nothing to gain and everything to lose from this situation—Ford had to testify in front of her accused abuser, replaying her trauma in front of a panel consisting largely of men as they attempted to discredit her experience.
Imagine how hard it is to go to work every day and continue to see your abuser, or even someone who has once been justly accused of sexual harassment or assault. That would make for a workplace filled with tension and anxiety. As for working with the person that had previously abused you, I can’t even fathom the pain that it would cause, knowing that they still have influence over you and are not being held liable for their illegal actions. Social movements such as #MeToo have done a good job of ensuring more accountability for proven sexual abusers, but we still have a long way to go.
It seems like people debase themselves further in a despicable attempt to shame the victims and their supporters. Recently, the conservative nonprofit Catholic Vote, as part of their Moms for Kavanaugh movement, broadcasted a TV commercial that portrayed Kavanaugh as an innocent, hardworking and talented man. The end of the commercial read, “this could happen to our sons, fathers, brothers—it could happen to you.” People are entitled to innocence until their guilt is proven, but this is taking it too far. Catholic Vote pandered to fear, purposely smearing Ford in order to invalidate her pain and support a partisan cause.
Although the battle is technically over, the Kavanaugh case has highlighted and exacerbated an ugly partisan divide that is stripping us of our most basic human morals. Our collective reaction is not affording Ford the basic human dignity that she deserves, and that says something sinister about our society as a whole.