Yet another sexual assault victim, Christine Blasey Ford, is fighting to have her voice heard and her story believed.
Last Sunday, Blasey came forward with a letter claiming she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh over three decades ago with the help of a friend, whose name was redacted from the letter.
According to CNN, Blasey wrote the following in her letter to the state senator of California, Dianne Feinstein: “Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s. […] Kavanaugh was on top of me while laughing with REDACTED, who periodically jumped onto Kavanaugh. They both laughed as Kavanaugh tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth I feared he may inadvertently kill me,” CNN’s report of Blasey’s letter states.
As if these horrific events were not enough to suffer through, Blasey is having to jump through the many patriarchal and political hoops sexual assault victims have to go through to prove their sincerity. 
A pattern seen in the past few years alone, women of sexual assault have to publicly provide hard evidence to prove they are being truthful about their sides of the story. Even with all this evidence, they are still viewed as trying to bring men down.  
Blasey knows this. She is working within the system to prove her sincerity. She is taking control of her story.
Blasey made public her therapist’s notes from 2012. Blasey shared the notes with Emma Brown of The Washington Post. In her article, Brown recounted some stunning excerpts from the notes. “She reported that she was attacked by students ‘from an elitist boys’ school’ who went on to become ‘highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington,'” the notes reported by Brown read. 
Blasey also willingly took a polygraph administered by a former FBI agent. According to Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times, “The utility of polygraphs is dubious, but her willingness to take one is evidence of her sincerity.”
Furthermore, Blasey is willing to testify, standing by her word, standing by her innocence. “[…] some Republicans wanted to call on Blasey to testify publicly, assuming she’d decline. But on Monday morning, Blasey’s lawyer, Debra Katz, said that her client is willing to appear before Congress,” says Goldberg. 
After the inevitable backlash and consistent defense of Kavanaugh from President Donald Trump and other senate members, Blasey wrote a letter this Tuesday about how she wants the FBI to investigate her case before the court hearing scheduled for Monday.
According to Seung Min Kim, Robert Costa and John Wagner of The Washington Post, her request was the following: “A full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner, and that the committee is fully informed before conducting any hearing or making any decisions.”
Blasey is using the guilty-until-proven-innocent culture of sexual assault victims as a strategy. She is using this game to her advantage, to show she knows what she has to do. She knows she is sincere and is willing to play along. The fact she has to do this is horrifying, and if Kavanaugh is still elected a Supreme Court Justice, it proves Washington does not care if they have sexual predators under its roof. Sexual assault does not matter according to them—it is not a deterrent in hiring someone. 
This same incident happened with the Anita Hill case back in 1991, when she accused Clarence Thomas of sexually assaulting her. Now he is a Supreme Court Justice.
I will never understand the culture of guilty until proven innocent, which is so common in high-profile sexual assault cases. It not only facilitates the harassment of victims, but it allows criminals to remain firmly on their pedestals while the victim tries and sometimes fails to expose the evils of a widely admired figure.
Even after all the evidence Blasey brought forward, Trump still has the audacity to praise his appointee, saying in a press conference transcribed by Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the New York Times, “I feel so badly for him that he’s going through this.” Possibly, he sees a kindred spirit in Kavanaugh, since Trump has been accused of sexual assault himself. 
The hearing is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 24, but is likely going to be postponed due to the FBI investigation, which hopefully will bring light to the injustices done to Blasey.