'This brings back so much pain': Viewers call in to C-SPAN during Kavanaugh hearings to share their own stories of sexual assault
Throughout Christine Blasey Ford‘s testimony that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school, her supporters jammed the phone lines at C-SPAN, sharing their own traumas.
The callers, according to the New Yorker, included Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Among them was a Pittsburgh woman named Hilary who said that in college, her drink was spiked — a common crime linked to sexual assault — and that she had to fend off her abuser.
One 76-year-old caller named Brenda, of Valley Park, Mo., says she was sexually molested during the second grade. “This brings back so much pain,” she told C-SPAN host Steve Scully. “Thought I was over it but it’s not. You will never forget it. You get confused & you don’t understand it but you never forget what happened to you.”
Brenda also shared that after the trauma she struggled with her weight because, “I was so afraid that someone was going to hurt me.” She said she hadn’t discussed the trauma for years until Ford’s testimony Thursday.
Brenda from Missouri calls C-SPAN
"I'm a 76-year-old woman who was sexually molested in 2nd grade. This brings back so much pain. Thought I was over it but it's not. You will never forget it. You get confused & you don't understand it but you never forget what happened to you." pic.twitter.com/uCgroeQ4B5— CSPAN (@cspan) September 27, 2018
According to the Washington Post, a female caller told Scully she was sexually abused by three different men in her teenage years; another said that she was 12 years old when her friend’s brother molested her at a sleepover; and another woman named Jessica, 26, tearfully shared the story of her sexual assault in college.
The Post reported that another woman disclosed, “This same kind of sexual assault happened to me twice in high school in the 1970s — very similar scenario. I lived it.”
Both men and women tweeted their personal stories to C-SPAN and thanked Scully for his sensitivity.
I, too, was molested in the 2nd grade. I am now 66. I did not tell anyone until I was 44. I never told my husband, my children, my sister or close friends. I disclosed to a young 18 year old woman who was suffering from PTSD from sexual abuse by her father. Do I believe her? 100%
— Christy Levey (@ChristyStuttgar) September 27, 2018
After watching Dr. Ford today, I was finally able to disclose my childhood experience of being molested by a family member.
— James Beaman (@JamieBeaman) September 27, 2018
Women from all over the country are calling into .@cspan and sharing stories of trauma and sexual assault. To the moderator taking the calls, thank you for giving women the space to share their stories. #MeToo #KavanaughHearings
— Arti (@ajpeddakotla) September 27, 2018
CSPAN is literally just a stream of calls of women disclosing sexual abuse and assault.
— Lori (@thebutterknife) September 27, 2018
Watching these C-Span calls about survivors of assault is so fulfilling, and @cspan you are doing a great service. #kavanaugh #BlaseyFord
— TooMuchToSay (@JBergeron94) September 27, 2018
Same for me. I'm now 78 and it never goes away.
— Cherry Dunbar (@sadie33417) September 27, 2018
I have stories i have NEVER shared and I am a man and not even that old. You do even want to remember.
— Tosin Ash. (@Tosyneno) September 27, 2018
I was sexually abused from 11 to 19 yo. You never forget but talk, don’t be quiet, even if nobody want to hear your story, and the pain will be easier to live with.
— Anka LeVers2Trop (@AnkaLeV2T) September 27, 2018
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Christine Blasey Ford is being shamed for having vocal fry — here’s what that is
Alyssa Milano is being shamed for her ‘revealing’ top at the Kavanaugh hearings
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