PUTNEY — Watching Christine Blasey Ford's testimony, I could not help but feel like I was hearing pieces of my own story told out loud, and it was indeed terrifying.
Most survivors of sexual assault or rape choose not to report, or even share, due to complex feelings, including guilt, fear, or shame. I feel physically sick thinking about the choice Dr. Blasey Ford faced and her feelings of obligation to share some of her darkest moments publicly.
Odds are that at least one woman you know has a story like this one - she might or might not have shared it with you. But she is listening.
And when you question why it took so long for Dr. Blasey Ford to come forward, or you ask why she “put herself in that situation,” that woman buries her story a little deeper inside.
Or, perhaps, she rips off the Band-Aid to show you her pain in an attempt to help you understand the answers to these questions.