I’ve never talked about this in public before, but in light of Kavanaugh’s nomination and the treatment of Christine Blasey Ford I felt I needed to say something.
When I was much younger, while visiting the southern US, a family member tried to rape me. I was able to fight him off, but the incident is something I’ve carried around with me since.
Trump and the GOPs argument against Ford comes down to—as it so often does—if the assault was such a big deal, why didn’t she or her family call the police right away? And why don’t more people know about the incident?
I can tell you from my own experience that I didn’t want to tell anyone. Fear was one reason. Humiliation was the other. I felt weak and stupid and that if I talked about it, it would somehow become my fault.
No one ever wants to talk about these things. In my case, there were my feelings, but I was also told that talking about it would hurt the family. I also felt, the way kids do, that if I didn’t talk about it, it would just go away.
I can’t speak to Ford’s reasons for not calling the police at the time of her assault. I can only speak to mine. And I can tell that that admitting that what happened and talking about it afterwards, to the cops or anyone else, are things I never wanted to do.
I believe Dr. Ford. You don’t invent charges like hers and take the blowback lightly. I know a lot of people would have attacked me if I’d talked about my attempted rape at the time.
Please don’t send me any sympathetic notes or condolences. That’s not why I’m posting this. I’m posting it to stand up for anyone who’s been through something similar and hasn’t been able to come forward.
And I’m posting it as a Fuck You to the president and Senate GOP leaders for what they’re doing to Ford. You can’t help what happened to either of us, but you can remember what’s been done to her and vote this November. Thanks.
