Why Women Don’t Report Sexual Assault

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/24/opinion/letters/kavanaugh-sexual-assault.html

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To the Editor:

Re “In Turnaround, Trump Doubts Accuser’s Story” (front page, Sept. 22):

Without the least bit of evidence, without even first hearing from Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser or considering evidence to the contrary, both Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have expressed their clear disdain for Christine Blasey Ford and full-throated support for Judge Kavanaugh. Their minds are made up.

Is this the best system we are able to put forth? If these are the stacked odds against which sexual assault survivors are pitted within the American legal system, is it truly any wonder that sexual abuse continues to rank among the most underreported crimes in this country?

America can do better than this. We are better than this. And we certainly deserve better justices than this on the highest court in the land.

Julian Everett AllgoodNew York

To the Editor:

Re “We Are Not the Resistance” (Sunday Review, Sept. 23):

There is considerable justice in the fact that Michelle Alexander’s new column appears at the same time as more revelations about Brett Kavanaugh have surfaced. I’ve heard the comment that prison is “enduring punishment for the dumbest thing one has ever done.”

Mr. Kavanaugh and his fellow students might heed this. They have long been protected by the code and the money that keeps drunken and abusive prep school boys on the outside while misbehavior from poor black boys gets them in prison.

If there’s anything good that can come out of this imbroglio, might it be that white elites can no longer be assured that “what happens at” — name your institution — stays there? And that those on the other side of the fence get a fairer hearing?

Ms. Alexander, I hope you are right that the current administration is the resistance to progress — and not the future.

Connie GoddardTinton Falls, N.J.

To the Editor:

Why is it that people have no trouble believing middle-aged and elderly men when they speak of being abused in their youth by their priests many decades ago, while many seem to question Christine Blasey Ford’s memory when she speaks of attempted rape more than 30 years ago?

Ida SchmertzNew York

To the Editor:

One of the senators on the Judiciary Committee should ask for a show of hands before Thursday’s session: How many women in the hearing room have ever been sexually assaulted? Then the senator should ask them to keep their hands up if they reported the incident and if there’s a record somewhere to support the claim. Let the nation see this and judge Christine Blasey Ford’s credibility.

Stephen C. HarveyPhiladelphia

To the Editor:

Surely there are at least 200 conservative judges who could be selected for this Supreme Court vacancy who would not be accused of sexual violence. Why not pick another individual and get a confirmation before January? Even if Democrats should prevail in the midterm elections, there is plenty of time to confirm a justice who does not have such a dark cloud hanging over him or her.

Debbie ChapmanWest Palm Beach, Fla.

To the Editor:

Do you want to know why women do not tell about sexual attacks? We’re watching the reason right now. Mary E. CarterPlacitas, N.M.