Every woman in America is furious. And if some are not, they will be. If Brett Kavanaugh is named a Supreme Court Justice, a judge on the highest court of the land, every woman will cry. And every husband, brother, and friend will watch them, and maybe some of them will cry too.

Justices on the Supreme Court sit in their jobs for a lifetime. They’re guaranteed the money and the honor that comes with being the final decision-maker for some of the toughest cases in the United States. It’s up to them: what’s fair? Who’s telling the truth? Who receives what type of punishment? They deal with people’s lives and reputations. They absolutely cannot be biased towards gender, race, or sexuality. If they were, it wouldn’t be fair. Justice would not be served.

Before Dr. Christine Blasey Ford told America that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her, people were already seething with President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Justice nominee. Specifically, members of the LGBTQ+ community, women, and those affected by racial discrimination were terrified of what could happen if Kavanaugh was one of the decision makers regarding cases about gay rights and abortion.

The Roe v Wade case, which resulted in an eventual law, that ruled that the regulation of abortion and women’s bodies is unconstitutional, is expected to be overturned if Kavanaugh gets involved. Women that know they can’t afford a child, raise a child, survive if the child is born, and that their child could be born with serious health issues (due to opioid addiction, etc) would no longer have the right to go through with an abortion.

As for LGBTQ+ rights, it is suggested that Kavanaugh would desire religious anomaly to laws and acts that restrict discrimination; this means that a member of the LGBTQ+ community would not be able to be their true sexuality because of someone else’s religious views.

Kavanaugh also advocates for the reversal of affirmative action, which is a program implemented to encourage diversity within schools and companies, to keep employers from hiring a primarily white staff or student body. 

People did not hate Kavanaugh because he was a Republican. Donald Trump picking a Republican was to be expected, since he himself is one. That is not the issue. The issue is every person that wasn’t white and wasn’t male would be subject to a world where they don’t matter, their rights are denied, and they don’t receive fair treatment…not to mention that the American government already treated minorities this way. By placing Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, our country would be stepping back years worth of progress. This was progress that we shouldn’t have needed, because no human was supposed to be put down because of their gender, sexuality, or race.

But when Dr. Ford came forward, an absolute wave of outrage, unlike before, drowned Kavanaugh and threw him into a whirlpool of accusations, criticism, and court hearings. Ford was called a liar. Of course she was called a liar.

Many have asked: “Why didn’t she come forward earlier, when Kavanaugh’s nomination was announced?”

Fame. A lot of people seem to think she’s doing it for fame. Democrat. She’s a Democrat, therefore she is making up a story so a Republican doesn’t become a Supreme Court Justice. 

In her testimony, Dr. Ford relented, “I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.”

I wish everyone could see that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gets nothing. Absolutely nothing out of coming forward. She is, ‘taking one for the team,’ per say. Taking one for her country. Allowing herself and her image to get dragged through the media so that she can prevent-not a Republican-but an attempted rapist from sitting on the highest court of the land.

By coming forward, she has put her family on display. Ford stated that in 2012, she went to marriage counseling with her husband…and part of their relationship issues had to do with her traumatizing experience as a fifteen year old girl. Imagine having your issues with your husband, wife, or significant other broadcasted to the world. Ford also has two sons. The amount of criticism and judgement they must be receiving from their classmates is unfathomable. I ask that you put yourself in their shoes…her shoes.

Dr. Ford and her family have had to relocate twice since the news broke out, because reporters and paparazzi were swarming outside of her household, and she was receiving several death threats. She now lives in an undisclosed location with bodyguards, which is exorbitantly expensive.

Just in case all of these arguments and logic aren’t quite enough, please consider a few statistics from RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization:

• Every 98 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.
• 9 out of every 10 victims of rape are female.
• 54% of victims are aged 18-34 years old.
• 1 in 6 women have been the victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
• 1 in 33 men have experienced rape or attempted  rape in their lifetime.
• 94% of women who are victims experience symptoms of PTSD.
• 33% of women who are raped contemplate suicide, and 13% of women who are raped commit suicide.
• 2% of accusations are false.

As a girl, every older woman I know has a story. Whether it be rape, sexual assault, or harassment, it has almost become a norm for women. And now that we have a potential rapist as a Supreme Court Justice, I’m scared. This should not be the norm. Being scared to walk around at night should not be the norm. My dad begging me to take a self-defense class should not be the norm. Needing to know that parking lots are the places where most rape cases occur should not be the norm. I am a 15 year-old girl. Should I have to be this scared?

Innocent until proven guilty. I can understand the backlash. But it’s frustrating to see the same people blindly defending Kavanaugh with “innocent until proven guilty” also immediately calling a woman a liar. Statistics show that 98% of the time, accusations are true, and this toxic pattern of blaming the woman is a very disgusting culture.

The scope of this article is not intended to be divisive, or even overly political.  Rather, I wish to suggest that we, as Americans, can be better.  We can re-learn how to treat each other, and to believe women when they say they’re being sexually exploited.  

This is the least we can do in the effort to continue to make America a place of equality.