“We stand by her”
Friends back Boulder woman accusing Kavanaugh of sex misconduct
Friends of Deborah Ramirez say she’s an extremely private person with a life and career focused on volunteerism and community service.
The 53yearold Boulder resident is the senior volunteer coordinator at Boulder County’s Department of Housing & Human Services, where she’s worked since February 2013. She’s also on the board of the nonprofit Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, which supports victims of domestic violence.
But she now has a new role that will make her a household name: Brett Kavanaugh’s second accuser. Shockwaves are rippling through Washington after Ramirez told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her while she was at an alcoholladen dormitory party in the 19831984 academic year at Yale University.
Ramirez’s allegation came to light Sunday, the same day the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing this week to take testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager.
Kavanaugh has denied both women’s allegations, denouncing them Monday for launching “smears, pure and simple.”
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from the process,” Kavanaugh wrote in a letter to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out.”
Fellow board members and staffers at the Boulderbased Safehouse released a statement Monday morning supporting Ramirez.
“We know Debbie Ramirez to be a woman of great integrity and honor,” they wrote. “We stand by her and her courageous decision to come forward. It is never simple or easy for survivors to share their experiences. To do so in the face of public scrutiny requires a level of personal strength that is true to the person Debbie is. She has our support, our respect and our admiration.”
Lisa Calderón, Safehouse’s former legal director, hired Ramirez as a volunteer and watched her grow into a fulltime employee who ran the 24/7 domestic violence crisis team and trained police officers who intervene in such incidents.
“I trained Debbie as a victim advocate, and one of the things we teach is that we never tell victims what to do,” Calderón told reporters Monday after speaking at a rally in Denver pro testing Kavanaugh’s nomination. “When you speak out, someone is going to criticize you or you might not be believed.”
“And Debbie knows the consequences of speaking up,” she added. “Unfortunately, nothing can prepare you for this circus — this political circus — that’s happening.”
The two women had not been in close touch since Calderón left Safehouse in 2007, and Calderón would go on to become a political activist in Denver as cochair of the Colorado Latino Forum. She said she reached out to Ramirez via text message Sunday night and “got her consent to be able to speak about what I know about her” during the rally.
Ramirez began her involvement with Safehouse in October 2002 as a court advocate volunteer, according to a 2011 Facebook post by the organization. She later took the staff role of volunteer coordinator and has served on the board for many years after leaving her staff position.
Ramirez wrote in the Facebook post that she was motivated to continue her work with the organization because she found a community she enjoyed.
“We are all different, we are all valued and we all are committed to creating a world that is just and equitable for all,” she wrote in the post.
“Willing to help her fellow human beings”
For those in Boulder who know Ramirez, this new public spotlight is one she never wanted.
Scott Fliegelman, 50, of Boulder, said he was in the same running group as Ramirez in the early 2000s. That group, organized by the nowshuttered Fleet Feet Sports in Boulder, gathered on Monday nights.
The two have lost touch in recent years, but socialized regularly until about 2005 or 2006, he said, adding that she’s a “pretty private” person.
“I believe her without hesitation,” Fliegelman said in an interview. “I can’t imagine that Debbie would fabricate anything, much less anything of this nature, and that’s why I really felt for her.”
Fliegelman said Ramirez is a humble person who went to Yale, then chose a career path focused on helping others, including women in crisis.
“She chose to not go out and make millions of dollars, but be willing to help her fellow human beings,” he said, adding that she has a “real strong character and morals.”
At the Boulder County Department of Housing & Human Services, Ramirez works with residents in need. She handles requests from families for help with food, utility bills and other necessities, matches community donors with families and children for gifts during the holidays, and recruits community volunteers.
“I feel so badly that this event happened to her and she’s been carrying it with her for so many years and now feels compelled to share,” Fliegelman said.
“Never a bad thing to say about anybody”
To a crowd of more than 100, Calderón recalled Ramirez as a thoughtful, private person who loved the outdoors, saying: “This is a woman of impeccable character.”
Afterward, Calderón told reporters she had never heard Ramirez speak previously about the incident alleged to have involved Kavanaugh.
“All I can think about now is how traumatic it may have been for her, but that she kept silent about that to do her job,” Calderón said.
Ramirez led intensely emotional training sessions while she was volunteer coordinator at Safehouse, but rarely shared details of her own life, said Elena Robles, who became a volunteer with the organization in 2005 and was trained by Ramirez.
Robles volunteered at Safehouse for more than five years under the supervision of Ramirez before she left to move to New York, where she lives now. Ramirez always took the time to listen and was easy to talk to, Robles said.
Ramirez never told Robles about any sexual trauma in her past, but Robles said Ramirez spent much of her time listening instead of speaking.
“You can tell that she had experienced some things, but nobody ever tried to pry,” Robles said. “She was never one to offer it up.”
Robles was shocked when she read about Ramirez’s story Monday morning. As she read more online, she was disheartened by the number of “vile” attacks levied against Ramirez by people who did not know her.
“She never had a bad thing to say about anybody,” Robles said. “She doesn’t deserve that treatment.”
“What a person is made of ”
That theme is echoed by a former board member who knew Ramirez at Safehouse. R Mercedes Lindenoak met Ramirez in 2016 when Lindenoak joined the nonprofit organization’s board.
Lindenoak had not heard Monday morning about Ramirez’s statement about Kavanaugh’s alleged sexually misconduct, but said Ramirez was quiet, thoughtful and deeply kind.
“If she said something happened, it happened,” said Lindenoak, who has lived in Boulder for 48 years and works as an artist and advocate for atrisk youth.
The two women went through intense training together for the domestic violence prevention organization, Lindenoak said.
“You find out what a person is made of going through those trainings,” she said. “She really knew how to listen to people and hear the center of what they were saying.”
Ramirez was very aware of the public scrutiny and harassment that survivors of sexual assault face when they tell their stories, Lindenoak said.
“I’m sure she knew exactly what she was doing,” Lindenoak said. “She is very intelligent.”
Ramirez never mentioned the alleged incident with Kavanaugh to Lindenoak. Ramirez rarely talked about herself with Lindenoak and was much more focused on the work of the organization.
“It wasn’t about us,” she said.
But Lindenoak noted that many people involved with Safehouse or other domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy groups often have their own history of trauma.
“She’s got a lot of inner strength,” Lindenoak said. “Usually that’s a sign that someone has been through some sort of hell or another.”