Many people have raised objections to the idea that we should trust Christine Blasey Ford's account of her assault because " so many women lie about rape." Being that I am active in the anti-sexual violence movement, and have been for many years, I have researched the topic of false rape reporting. What I have found regarding this topic compels me to believe she is telling the truth for numerous reasons. It is worth noting that there is a false reporting rate for EVERY crime, including murder. And studies consistently show that sexual assault is no more likely to be falsely reported than any other crime. There are also studies that seem to suggest car theft has a higher false reporting rate than rape. Yet it is highly unusual for people claiming to have their cars stolen to be automatically treated with suspicion the way sexual assault survivors are. In regards to false reporting, their prevalence, and what type of person makes them, the FBI and numerous other prestigious institutions have done research spanning decades of information gathered from police stations around the country. Using sound methodological means, the most accurate statistics we have for the prevalence of false reporting to law enforcement puts the percentage somewhere between 2 and 7%, no more than 10%. Ironically, many of the false accusations actually turn out to be true accounts, but the accusers recant due to public duress. Of those false accusations, there is a typical M.O. regarding the details in them. The majority of false reports do not name a specific person, but instead say it was a stranger ( to avoid getting a specific person in trouble.) The false reports tend to include exaggerated violence ( beating, weapons, etc.) which is not present in most assaults. The false reports tend to involve the accuser stating that they fought back with all their strength against their assailant, even though the most common response to a sexual assault is to freeze during the attack ( 70% in fact.) Of the false accusers themselves, they tend to fit specific personality traits and to have common motives for false reporting, Many are teenagers who are trying to avoid parental scolding. Many need an "alibi" for some event in their life, like an affair they are trying to conceal. Many are actively encouraged by OTHERS to false report, such as a secret lover. They tend to be people who have a history of sexual assault in their past. They tend to be people with SEVERE mental disorders, almost to the point of psychosis. They tend to be people who have a history of negative interactions with law enforcement and false reporting of other crimes. None of these traits apply to the character of Christine Blasey Ford. It should also be acknowledged that statistically speaking, an American male has a greater chance of being sexually assaulted HIMSELF than being falsely accused of it. In fact, her account fits the typical description of a FACTUAL sexual assault case. She and Kavanaugh were of the same race, socioeconomic station, and relatively close in age. She was younger than 30 years of age. ( 16-19 is the most common age range, which is close to what she was..) Her attacker was drunk ( 52% of sexual assaults involve alcohol.) They were acquaintances. There was not a gratuitous amount of violence( no beatings, weapon present, etc.) She didn't report it to law enforcement. ( 2 out of 3 assaults go unreported.) She didn't tell anyone at first. And she did not speak out about the attack until many years later. All of these aspects of her story lend credibility to her account according to research. It is also worth noting that her memory is somewhat hazy, as in she forgets specific details of the assault. That is ALSO the most common response to a sexual assault. Another compelling reason as to why I believe her account is the fact that, from an outside perspective at least, she has nothing to gain and EVERYTHING to lose by coming forward. Since she appeared at the hearing, she has had to leave her home along with her husband and two children and go into hiding. At the present time, she has made statements to the press that she has in fact had to hire private body guards and has had to move 4 times. Her life has been completely disrupted. She has been called a liar, had at least 22% of the American population disbelieve her account, and was willing to go into humiliating detail in front of a national audience. She stated during her hearing that she would be willing to help them with the investigation in any way she could. She apologized for details she was unable to recall. She swore under oath with the penalty of perjury that she was telling the truth. She even acknowledged that an FBI investigation might turn up evidence against her. And she was ok with that. I see no reason why she would do such a thing, unless she was compelled by her need to seek justice for a past wrong against her person. It is also noteworthy that after the alleged assault, a rumor went around the school that something akin to Ford's assault took place. Going back some years now, she has notes from a couples therapy session from 2012 stating that she had survived an attempted rape in high school. While not specifically naming Kavanaugh in the session, she stated that her assailant was now a federal judge. She told several people over the next few years, all the way up to 2016, that Brett Kavanaugh had assaulted her. This was before the 2016 election and before Kavanaugh was ever considered for the supreme court. She passed an FBI polygraph test. She attempted to contact the press BEFORE KAVANAUGH was picked in an attempt to keep him out. There were many possible picks she could have chosen from, but she chose him specifically. I can think of no logical reason other than he was her attacker. She was visibly upset during the hearing, almost to the point of tears, yet not overly emotional to the point that it didn't seem genuine. She had a basic idea of where the house could be, and even gave a vivid description of the layout of the house, including the bedroom where she says she was accosted. Even her defamers stated that her statement seemed credible. Susan Collins, the senator from Maine who ultimately voted to confirm Kavanaugh despite the accusations, even stated during her speech that she believes Dr Ford was assaulted by someone, just that it was not Kavanaugh.
On the other hand, Kavanaugh was caught in numerous lies during his hearing. He lied about the definition of certain terms from his yearbook, including Devil's Triangle, boofing, and also a note regarding a female classmate of his. During his hearing, he used in his defense a calendar from 1982 that was supposed to show that he had no dates marked during that summer to show that he was at a party like the one Ford described. It turns out that there WAS a party marked in July showing that he had a house party he was to attend. In the note, he also named specific people who were to be at the party, including people Ford said were there that night. He was defensive during the hearing, and evaded questions regarding whether he welcomed an FBI investigation. He was dishonest in his responses concerning his intake of alcohol during his youth. Several of his Yale classmates have come forward to say so. He stated during the hearing that one of Ford's high school friends was on the record stating that he was never at the party mentioned, even though her friend simply stated that she did not witness anything specifically at a party, but that she believes Dr. Ford is telling the truth. In his defense during a Fox News segment, he stated that her could not have assaulted Ford because he was a virgin throughout his youth. A college friend of his has also come out stating that Kavanaugh confided in him that he had indeed engaged in sexual intercourse. Besides that, it is a lame excuse for the simple reason that Kavanaugh was not accused by anyone of rape, but ATTEMPTED rape. A police report from 1985 shows that during a drunken fit, Kavanaugh assaulted someone by throwing a glass of ice during an argument in a bar brawl. He was noted for becoming violent while drunk. Many people have stated that since Christine Blasey-Ford has no definitive "proof" of what, if anything, happened, we cannot trust her account. The thing is, if you take her account seriously, there NEVER WAS any physical proof. Even with rape, there is oftentimes not enough evidence to convict, and Christine's account states that it was an attempted rape. But since this was not a criminal trial but a job interview for Kavanaugh, it should still be considered.
His second accuser, a woman by the name of Debora Ramirez, was a fellow college student at Yale who claims that during a party, Kavanaugh, in a drunken stupor, exposed his penis to her and pushed it into her face. She says that she has witnesses who were at the party who can verify her story. A male classmate has come out stating that he remembers egging Kavanaugh on to do it. 1200 Yale Alumnae have signed a letter stating their support for Ramirez. This assault was alleged to have happened in 1984, the same year that a note from Kavanaugh states that he and his frat brothers were drunks. This account of hers follows the M.O of Brett Kavanaugh assaulting women while intoxicated at parties. It is also important to note that Deborah Ramirez AND the other two accusers all came out after it was made public that Christine Blasey Ford was receiving death threats and harassment daily. Why would they do that, if they were just wanting attention? What non-pathological reason would they have to putting themselves in such a situation?
The fourth woman who accused Kavanaugh chose to remain anonymous. She sent a private letter detailing an incident in college where Kavanaugh pushed her up against a wall and groped her while he was intoxicated. This accuser stated that she had two eye witnesses who witnessed the incident. Since this woman chose to remain anonymous, I can only reasonably assume that she came forward not in a desire to seek any sort of fame, but to speak out against the confirmation of Kavanaugh.
As for the FBI investigation itself, it was pretty much a sham. The FBI did not speak to Blasey-Ford OR Kavanaugh. Many people who wanted to testify, mostly as supporters to corroborate for Blasey-Ford, were never called forward. They were given ONLY a week to investigate these claims.
Ultimately, none of us will ever know the full stories behind these investigations, but it is very telling of how far our culture still has to go regarding these offenses that a person credibly accused of committing them can become a supreme court judge. All I can do is hope that there will come a day when victims will be heard and, more importantly, finally believed.
