USA TODAY International Edition
After Kavanaugh, survivors want end to rehashing trauma
Some take new look at hallmark of movement
Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation as the 114th Supreme Court justice came despite what many saw as Christine Blasey Ford laying bare her trauma and suffering as a result. It’s leading some survivors to reassess what has become a hallmark of the #MeToo movement – the use of painful, personal testimonies as a way to validate the need for change in the country’s handling of sexual assault – and it’s motivating others to set their sights on November. “We are asking survivors to peel back their trauma, and perform it again, and again and again. And as Dr. Ford said, the train will probably continue, and we’ll probably be personally annihilated anyways. She predicted it,” said Elizabeth Xu Tang of the National Women’s Law Center, who protested outside the Supreme Court on Saturday. “We have tweeted all the tweets. We have made all the hashtags. We have written all the Facebook posts and set them to public so you could share them. We’ve recorded all the podcasts. We’ve written all the blogs,” said Tang, who is also a survivor, riffing on a popular refrain in literature on race. “After all of this, a conversation on rape culture – and nothing more – is a horrible goal.” The sharing of personal experiences has defined the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements in the past year, hitting a fever pitch in recent weeks as some of the rhetoric defending Kavanaugh inspired more women to come forward. “As a survivor, the trauma and retraumatization that I’ve felt, that my team has felt and really so many millions of survivors who are coming forward and bearing their traumas for the goal of being heard, it’s really been hard,” said Jess Davidson, interim executive director of End Rape on Campus. “I think it’s disgusting that we make survivors tell their stories and bear their scars to show they were bleeding, over and over again.” Davidson says the focus now should be on reforming systems with survivors in mind to allow them to seek justice that they identify, whether it’s an apology or police report. She and her colleagues will be back in the office Monday continuing their efforts to provide services for survivors. Earlier Saturday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, “I think it’s disgusting that we make survivors tell their stories and bear their scars.” Jess Davidson Interim executive director of End Rape on Campus D-Conn., led the crowd in another popular refrain about next steps: “What are we going to do? Vote. And bring three people with you to the polls,” he said. March On, one of the key architect’s of the Women’s March, announced a series of “March on the Polls” rallies – in Chicago, New York City, Atlanta, South Carolina, Houston, Seattle, Florida and across the nation – with the message to vote early. The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, which runs the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800-656-4673), reported a 338 percent increase in hotline traffic in the four days after the Senate Judiciary hearing. The day after Ford and Kavanaugh’s testimonies was the busiest day in the 24-year history of the National Sexual Assault Hotline, with more than 3,000 people receiving help. Personal testimonies made #MeToo the viral movement it was, and will surely continue to be made – but the motivations may change. “Trauma porn,” Tang said, is not the answer. “I think the stories that survivors have courageously shared have certainly been critical in reshaping the national dialogue. But I don’t know that we need to keep sharing our trauma like this,” she said. “We’ve heard all the stories. At some point, if you don’t believe survivors, it’s because you don’t want to believe them.”