Media Callers flood C-SPAN with sexual assault stories during Ford hearing The anecdotes illustrated how the nation is reacting to Ford's story.

Callers from around the United States flooded the lines of C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" show on Thursday to share their own stories of sexual assault as the country grappled with Christine Blasey Ford's striking testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The deluge of personal anecdotes on C-SPAN created a remarkable split-screen moment as Ford, a professor of psychology from California, publicly discussed her accusation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school.


The callers — who self-identified as either Democrats, Republicans or independents — used their stories to both discredit and defend Ford as she was giving her testimony, revealing the varying ways the nation is processing Ford's story and what it means for American culture.

"From a personal standpoint, I was the victim of abuse when I was 13 and I came out close to 30 years old," said Diana, a Democrat from Maryland, alluding to a point of contention at Ford's hearing — why she did not make her accusations public until decades after she says the incident occurred.

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"I just wanted to call in for the other women out there who are listening," the woman added. "It does not make you less credible because you come out 17 years later. It can take a lot of time to process these things that happen to you when you are underage, and cannot comprehend what is happening, or how it affects you down the road."

According to Ford's opening statement on Thursday, she first revealed the details of the incident in 2012, during a couples counseling session with her husband.

But others called into question Ford's own recollection of the details, saying that even the minutia remain seared into the memories of sexual assault survivors.

"I was abused as a 12-year-old. I never forgot one part of the incident," said Christine, a Republican from New York. "I learned through life, I adjusted after it, but I would never go back and press charges and ruin somebody's future."

Lynn from Kentucky added: "I was a victim at 11 years old, okay? I will tell you, I do remember where, when and how. When you are sexually assaulted, you never forget."

Ford on Thursday recounted the specific details that she does remember, including who was in the room where she says the incident happened and and how the alleged incident followed her throughout her life. But she was unable to recall other details, such as exactly when the incident occurred.

Asked by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) what her most vivid memory of the incident was, Ford said, "Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between [Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge] and their having fun at my expense."

An independent caller from Alabama suggested Ford's therapist may have misled her.

"As a victim, I was sexually assaulted at 15 and I was told by adults to keep my mouth shut," the caller said. "The power of suggestion is really key. You don't know how much she actually said versus how much the therapist doing hypnosis added to or may have suggested."

Some callers also contrasted Ford's story to the allegations of sexual abuse by priests that have plagued the Catholic Church and have been made public in recent years.

"I find it extraordinary that people are so willing to vilify these women, but when boys come forward decades later to talk about abuse by priests, they are embraced and believed," said Marilyn, a Georgia Democrat. "We have to look at the patriarchy that is going on in this country. We have to look and why women don't come forward."

Besides Ford, two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, have also brought forth allegations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh from his years at Georgetown Preparatory School and Yale University. Kavanaugh has roundly denied any allegations.

Advocates of the #MeToo movement have long argued that a history of not believing sexual assault stories has hampered progress in delivering justice to survivors.

During the hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) praised Ford for her "courage" in coming forward with her story: "By example, she brought many families into honest and sometimes painful dialogue that should have occurred a long time ago."