After Trump criticizes Kavanaugh accuser, sexual assault survivors share #WhyIDidntReport

In a tweet, President Trump questioned why Brett Kavanaugh's accuser did not come forward sooner. In a tweet, President Trump questioned why Brett Kavanaugh's accuser did not come forward sooner. Photo: Twitter Screen Grab Photo: Twitter Screen Grab Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close After Trump criticizes Kavanaugh accuser, sexual assault survivors share #WhyIDidntReport 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

After President Donald Trump questioned the credibility of the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, thousands of people took to social media Friday to share the reasons they did not report their sexual assaults.

Trump's Friday tweet marked a sharp departure from the days after the accusations of Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, first came to light. Ford claims Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were both teenagers.

"I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents," Trump said in the tweet.

The statement produced widespread backlash from celebrities and Democratic lawmakers. The hashtag #WhyIDidntReport began trending on Twitter by Friday afternoon after thousands of people revealed the reasons they did not contact authorities.

Alyssa Milano, an actress who has been an outspoken advocate for the #MeToo Movement, said by tweet that she was sexually assaulted twice, once as a teenager.

"I never filed a police report and it took me 30 years to tell my parents," she wrote, accompanied by the #WhyIDidntReport hashtag.

Actress Ashley Judd recalled being sexually assaulted at age 7. "I told the first adults I came upon," she wrote by tweet. "They said, 'Oh, he's a nice old man, that's not what he meant.' So when I was raped at 15, I only told my diary. When an adult read it, she accused me of having sex with an adult man."

Reactions to the #WhyIDidntReport hashtag are compiled in the above gallery.

In a Washington Post report on Sunday, Ford said Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her during a party, attempted to remove her clothes and covered her mouth with his hand when she tried to scream. Ford initially reported the allegations to Rep. Anna Eschoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Kavanaugh has denied the claims. In a statement released through the White House Monday, he said: "This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday."

Kavanaugh said he plans to appear for a Monday hearing to respond to the allegations against him.

A source close to Ford told the Associated Press that she plans to meet with the FBI in San Francisco about death threats she's received since coming forward.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

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