When Women’s March SLO heard about a tweet from President Donald Trump that questioned why Christine Blasey Ford had not reported Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for sexual assault sooner, they knew they had to do something.
In response to Trump’s tweet and concerned reactions from the San Luis Obispo community, the organization held a solidarity event downtown for victims of sexual assault Sept. 27.
“A lot of people were asking us if we were going to do something around the Kavanaugh hearings, and what we landed on was Why I Didn’t Report because we wanted to make a safe space for women, for victims of sexual assault, for survivors, for allies and for men to come and express what had happened to them,” Women’s March SLO co-founder Dawn Addis said.
Addis said the general reaction from the community was positive and claimed that those who attended the event found it healing.
Addis shared opinions on the Kavanaugh hearings, similar to Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
“I found Dr. Blasey Ford to be extremely courageous,” Addis said. “I was very appreciative of the senators who made sure to say to her that she wasn’t on trial.”
Kavanaugh’s vote was delayed for up to a week for further federal investigation into the situation.
If he’s confirmed, it will be a lifetime appointment, which concerns Addis. She hopes the Senate and the American public will take this investigation and these hearings into serious consideration.
“We have to remember as an American public that this really is a job interview to have a lifetime appointment, a job that you never get fired from,” Addis said. “It’s extremely important that we know about the decision making of the person that the American public is giving this job to.”
Though this is a national issue, the discussion surrounding sexual assault is not new to Cal Poly students. According to Cal Poly Safer, one in four women and one in 10 men are sexually assaulted by the time they graduate college.
“I know that there have been many women that have come forward on the Cal Poly campus that haven’t been listened to,” Addis said. “I would encourage Cal Poly students to keep that conversation alive, to keep pressing forward. Don’t stay quiet.”