Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, made a rare public appearance over the weekend to accept a “courage award” from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The New York Post reported that Dr. Ford, who has since returned to duties as a professor and researcher at Stanford University, attended the awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, and gave a speech where she took credit for doing her patriotic duty in accusing Kavanaugh of a decades-old sexual assault during his Senate confirmation hearings.
“When I came forward last September, I did not feel courageous. I was simply doing my duty as a citizen,” she told the friendly Hollywood audience after accepting the Rodger Baldwin Courage Award. “I understood that not everyone would welcome my information, and I was prepared for a variety of outcomes, including being dismissed.”
“I was not prepared for the venom, the persistent attacks,” she added. “I was not prepared to be physically threatened and forced out of my home.”
Ford accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both high school students. She claimed that he had several of his friends hold her down while he rubbed against her in the bedroom of a vacant Washington, area beach house sometime in the 1980s.
“She alleged that Kavanaugh pinned her down, groped her over her clothing before trying to remove it and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream,” according to NBC News.
Even though Ford had no evidence to back up her allegations and her only named witness, a woman by the name of Leland Keyser, had no recollection of the party or the assault, Dr. Ford’s claims against Kavanaugh were given significant weight, and she was called to testify in a special session of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Her allegations also became the subject of both an FBI and a Senate Judiciary investigation.
At Sunday’s awards ceremony, Ford was introduced by filmmaker and outspoken critic of President Trump, Judd Apatow, who called her “a true American hero.”
Dr. Ford told the crowd that, while she still suffers from spending time in the spotlight, she hopes her testimony helps other women come forward to confront their own sexual assaults and that she believes she “gives strength” to women who have been attacked.
“My voice was just one voice,” she said. “You are many. We are many.”
