Ford has faced aggression and ridicule, as well as support and admiration, and the glare of unwanted notoriety is unlikely to fade anytime soon

The contrast could not be more clear.

After the Senate narrowly approved Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the US supreme court at the weekend, the judge joined Donald Trump in the White House for a triumphalist swearing-in ceremony, and took his place in history as the 114th justice to serve on America’s highest court.

Meanwhile, Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who gave up her anonymity to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her when the pair were teenagers, and whose powerful testimony to the Senate threatened to derail his nomination, remains in an undisclosed California location.

Play Video 2:11 Key moments from the Ford and Kavanaugh hearings – video

Death threats continue to make it impossible for Ford and her family to return to their home, one of Ford’s lawyers said.

'You are not alone': your reaction to Christine Blasey Ford's testimony Read more

“Her family has been through a lot,” Debra Katz told NBC News on Sunday. “It’s going to be quite some time before they’re able to live at home. The threats have been unending. It’s deplorable … It’s been very frightening.”

Kavanaugh denied all allegations of sexual misconduct. On Monday, Trump apologised to him on “behalf of our nation” for the “terrible pain” of addressing sexual assault allegations during the confirmation process. His comments followed a Mississippi rally during which Trump mocked Ford.

“People who challenge the status quo, and certainly those who challenge the gender status quo, will face an aggressive response and, often, ridicule,” said Marianne LaFrance, a social psychologist at Yale University who studies gender.

For Ford, that aggression and ridicule has also been accompanied by an outpouring of support, admiration and sympathy. At the same time, a significant share of American men and certain women appear to identify with Kavanaugh, to view him as the aggrieved party and Ford as the source of harm. The divide suggests that for Ford, in particular, the glare of unwanted notoriety is unlikely to fade soon, if at all.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Activists hold a protest march and rally in opposition to supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington on 4 October. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

On Tuesday, Kavanaugh quietly took his seat on the bench. Ford has remained out of the public eye since her Senate testimony, and her attorneys declined to comment on Ford’s safety, security or future.

“I’d say that Dr Ford has got to prepare herself for two things,” said Randall T. Coyne, a retired University of Oklahoma Law School professor who knew and worked with Anita Hill when she accused supreme court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment almost 30 years ago. “One is vile hatred and the other, frankly, is hero worship. Both of those can be quite unsettling.”

Like Ford, Hill also testified before the Senate judiciary committee. Thomas, like Kavanaugh, denied the allegations.

In Palo Alto, where Ford lives with her family, the area newspaper declared that Ford’s eventual homecoming would be a welcoming one. Locals have already held rallies supporting Ford and someone flew a plane over the city trailing a banner which read, “Christine: We Have Your Back.”

Janine De la Vega, Palo Alto police department spokeswoman, said: “Our officers are well aware of what has transpired, and out of an abundance of caution are continuing to conduct patrol checks of her residence and workplace (as they’ve been doing since this story broke last month, and as we would for any resident under similar circumstances). However, there are no investigations involving her by our department.”

Palo Alto is home to Palo Alto university, where Ford works as a psychology professor. Stanford University, where she also works, sits about a mile outside the city’s borders. As the local paper puts it, it’s a “bastion of highly educated liberals”, including many a tech industry billionaire – an environment quite different than the one to which Hill returned.

In Norman, Oklahoma, home to the conservative state’s flagship university, Hill returned to the town as one of the most recognizable women in America, Coyne said.

Brett Kavanaugh's ugly confirmation fight may reverberate for years inside supreme court Read more

After the 1991 hearing, Hill could not live in her home. Her office was inundated with mail. During off-campus outings colleagues, people, mostly women, often approached Hill to thank her, to tell her they believed her. Sometimes there were jeers. Hill, a quiet but confident colleague, often seemed uneasy in both these situations, Coyne said.

In 1996, Andrew M Coats, a lawyer who considered both Hill and Justice Thomas friends, became dean of the University of Oklahoma law school, a position he held for 15 years. Hill seemed liked and well regarded by the faculty, Coats said. But, those who despised her made no secret of it.

One Oklahoma man made a habit of showing up at school events simply to hold up a sign, Coats said. It read “Anita Lied.”

When private donors tried to create an endowed chair for Hill, alumni of the larger university threatened to stop making major donations. A Republican state lawmaker who described Hill as a “perjurer” introduced a bill to shutter the entire law school, the only public legal education facility in the state. Before the year ended, Hill announced her resignation.

The professor who had taught contract law courses in Oklahoma had decided to begin studying and teaching about issues related to the law, race, class, gender and work.

“I did all I could to make her comfortable but I understood that she had a good deal of pressure on her,” said Coats. “I was happy to have her there. In fact, I believed everything she said. She was a true and honest and kind person.”

Hill has been clear about what she regards as the effect of her testimony on the country. In a 2011 conversation with the Washington Post, she alluded to the effect her testimony had on on her own life.

“I know that testimony, no matter what anyone said and no matter who sits on the bench today, I know that testimony was not in vain,” she said. “I have lived with the issues of the hearings for 20 years now. I know the work that is being done and, as I hear it, I am encouraged.”