She generally gave herself very good advice

Just the other day I was delivered a massive wake up call when an individual I know, one with multiple daughters, shared something online questioning the credibility of Ford in the Kavanaugh case. Normally, I wouldn’t waste my time arguing with someone online, however, I was compelled this day to give a possible answer as to why Ford didn’t go to the police 30 plus years ago. As the discussion/argument between the two of us and a handful of others unfolded, I found myself in tears. Not because I can’t hold my own in a debate, but because I began to lose hope. He, like many others, found it more important to put politics ahead of humanity and perpetuate the notion that a woman cannot be believed when she discloses her trauma.

Little does he know, a woman in his family was sexually assaulted by her grandfather. She was not believed by her family, but was told the man was touching her because he loved her. After receiving this response, she kept quiet for 20 years with no intention of bringing up the assault to anyone else. When this man was about to be granted a leadership role at a young girl’s camp, this woman–my mother–broke her silence. She went to the church in which he held other leadership positions and relived her trauma–not to “ruin his career” or to “seek revenge,” but to save other young girls from the same fate she couldn’t be saved from.

I strongly believe this is what Ford is doing. Breaking her silence to save the rest of us from a fate she couldn’t escape.

It is time we start believing survivors. It is time we give support. It is time we listen.