Brett Kavanaugh. This name is now largely associated with one thing: sexual assault.
Whenever I turn on the news or read the paper his name is plastered everywhere.
Opinions about this sexual assault fiasco are all different. Some believe the woman accusing Kavanaugh of assault should have to prove that this happened to them. Others believe she is telling the truth because she came out with her story in front of very powerful people.
Lindsay Trombly | Argonaut
Gender roles have been challenged with sexual assault in the news.
Should we believe her because she is a woman? Or should get all the facts in a long and drawn out investigation before assuming she’s telling the truth?
Often, it seems men want proof, while women will believe in the woman’s story.
I’ve seen angry Facebook posts by women saying there needs to be proof. But, why would someone lie about that? I don’t see how someone could.
Especially when this experience is real for some women.
We probably believe we will never be sexually assaulted. But, it could happen to anyone. It happens more than we expect.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, nearly two-thirds of college students experience sexual harassment. Not only that, 20 percent to 25 percent of college women and 15 percent of college men are victims of forced sex during their time in college.
Experiences of sexual assault happen everywhere and they shouldn’t be silenced. This issue in society shouldn’t be buried under the rug.
At this time the #MeToo movement hasn’t been enough to stop sexual assault. It’s helped female victims tell their stories, but the movement still doesn’t make society understand how serious sexual assault is — especially for women.
We need to #BelieveWomen. This hashtag has been taking its stance on social media recently and I don’t think it’s disappearing anytime soon. It shouldn’t.
Women must stand together in times like this. We should automatically believe each other when other women say they’ve been sexually assaulted because statistically it probably did.
Women don’t joke about something so serious like this. We don’t lie to get attention. Lying about this would be the stupidest way to get it.
Sexual assault is a serious issue and we shouldn’t be asked to provide proof for something so horrible that has happened.
Asking for proof is basically trying to find evidence for a murder. Murder and sexual assault are definitely not the same things. In fact, sexual assault cases are under-reported.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center notes that Rape is the most under-reported crime; 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police
Other crimes are considered more important where sexual assault crimes don’t get much attention. No wonder victims aren’t speaking up as much as they should.
Women need to take a stand. They need to speak out and stand together in unity to end sexual assault.
Sadly, society still isn’t completely there yet regarding it as a huge issue. I think we’d like to think we are but some people are in the dark about the Brett Kavanaugh case that is happening in the first place. Some, don’t believe the women and some people just shut off their newsfeed because they don’t want to hear about it anymore.
These aren’t ways to address this issue. Or fix the problem itself.
Women need to recognize the repercussions of sexual assault and so do men. I stand with the #BelieveWomen act. Sexual assault needs to stop.
Lindsay Trombly can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lindsay_trombly