alabama24 wrote:
I have known women who did not report things of this nature. Although it is hard for me (my male brain) to comprehend, I can understand the embarrassment about it... just look at the vilification happening now. I also know men who were demonstratively proven to be falsely accused.
Yeah, you're right. I'll say this. I know more men and women who've been victims of actual sexual assault (not even counting workplace harassment) and didn't report it, than I do people who've had things happen and then reported it to the authorities. My anecdotal experience, combined with the statistics, guides me to believe that the "report/not report" doesn't really impact credibility. I've seen false claims of various kinds come forward over the years as well, but in my experience, those have always been far more rare.
alabama24 wrote: I don't know what to think of the original claim (Ford). BK seemed believable to me in his own defense. I don't believe Ford's claim is simply political... but I do believe the way it was handled by Dianne Feinstein was completely political. This should have been handled behind the scenes well more than a month ago. If found to have been credible, Ford would have had to make a decision to come public or not.
Oh yeah, I don't think Feinstein cares about the possibility of assault, only in how this information can be used in these proceedings. I'd be careful though to judge the veracity of the situation based on Feinstein's mishandling of the information. There are some scenarios where I could see Ford possibly saying, "I don't want to go through with this and to only use the information as a last resort, etc." Who knows. These types of cases don't exist in a vacuum and I think a victim has a choice as to how their information is used, etc. I have no idea what happened. At this point, it's really a "he said/she said" situation and I don't know either party from a character standpoint, so I think it's fair to say they both she be heard on what they have to say, and then let things settle however they do.
I think the best approach is, "I don't know" and we'll never know if we don't listen. More people need to listen right now, before they make their judgements.