What Would You Do?

 

By Marilyn Moore

Say their names:

Anita Hill

Christine Blasey Ford

Lonna Drewes

Jenny Racicot

You remember them….among the hundreds of thousands of women who are sexually harassed, abused, assaulted each year, these names stand out.  We’ve heard about them, because they stepped forward to credibly accuse a man seeking office of sexual harassment or assault.

Anita Hill described the sexual harassment she had experienced while working as a legal advisor to Clarence Thomas, who had been nominated for a seat on the US Supreme Court.  She described persistent sexual advances and lewd comments.  Her testimony was heard by a 14-member Senate committee, all male, all white.  Clarence Thomas was confirmed by the US Senate in 1991, and he still sits on the Court today, the longest-serving justice of the present Court.

Christine Blasey Ford described in detail the sexual assault perpetrated on her while she was a 15-year-old in high school, naming Brett Kavanaugh as the perpetrator.  She provided testimony to the US Senate Committee charged with conducting confirmation hearings for his nomination to the US Supreme Court in 2018. He was confirmed by the Senate, and he sits on the Court today.

Lonna Drewes described being sexually assaulted in 2018 by Eric Swalwell, a US Representative from California.  At the time of her accusation, in 2026, he was running for the Democratic nomination for Governor of California.  She is one of five women to make a public report of an alleged sexual assault by Swalwell.  Rep. Swalwell denied all accusations, but he ended his campaign for the gubernatorial nomination and resigned his seat in the House.

Jenny Racicot described being sexually assaulted by Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for US Senate from Maine.  She said in 2026 that after a two-year on-again and off-again relationship, he entered her home uninvited and assaulter her.  Platner’s story is complicated; he’s a veteran, who has suffered from PTSD.  He has also asserted in the past that women who are victims of sexual assault should take some responsibility for themselves.  Voters selected him in the primary; when Racicot’s story became known in the following weeks, supporters withdrew endorsements and finances.  He denied the accusation, but he withdrew from the campaign.  

Four stories, spanning decades, sharing in common one of the oldest stories of humankind…men in power assaulting women.  In none of these stories did the survivor of the sexual assault contact the police….for all the reasons women have always understood.  They would likely be blamed for what happened…what were they wearing, how did they act, had they been drinking, did they say no.  They would not be believed.  They would be ridiculed and shamed.  They would be targets for revenge, retribution, or further assault. Their families would be targeted.  

And yet, each one of them, at the point when their alleged abuser was being considered for, or running for, a highly visible, highly responsible, public position, one in which he would be in a position to make decisions regarding the health and welfare and safety of women and children, decided to speak out, to make their story, and their names, public.  What courage, and what a difficult decision.  Because, as they anticipated, they were disbelieved, or ridiculed, or blamed, or their families were threatened.

I’ve not been in that situation, though I certainly experienced sexual harassment as a female leader in a male-dominated profession. The stories that came out a few years ago at the height of the Me Too movement were illuminating; most women have had similar experiences.  

An acquaintance, however, finds herself with that dilemma today, the one experienced by Anita Hill, Christine Blasey Ford, Lonna Drewes, and Jenny Racicot.  Sue (not her real name, of course, and I’m not disclosing the state in which she lives) was married to an abuser.  He assaulted her.  He is running for public office today.  An organization that works to keep abusers from being elected has contacted Sue, asking her to make her story public. She is torn, describing the dilemma in which she finds herself. She does not believe her ex should be in public office.  She recognizes that going public with her story will result in threats and attacks, verbal and perhaps physical, upon her. She is prepared for that.  But…and it’s a huge “but,” she has children…and she’s afraid for what might happen to them.  

It's important to note that any decision is a brave decision.  To tell your story, to bring that experience to light to inform an electorate, knowing that your story might be disbelieved or simply disregarded, and your safety might be at risk, is a brave decision.  To choose to stay quiet, knowing that you have protected your family in the best way you can, is a brave decision.  Any woman facing this decision does not need the judgment of others; it’s an excruciatingly difficult decision, without adding the weight of “what people will think.”

Sue asked me what I would do.  I said I didn’t know….I think I would be willing to take whatever harmful consequences would come my way…but would I be willing to endanger my family?  My nieces and nephews and their children?  I do not know…nor do I know of a rubric, a balancing scale, a pros-and-cons system, for weighing the issue and coming to a thoughtful conclusion.  She asked me what I thought the readers of Five Women Mayhem would do.  I said I didn’t know….but I would ask.  So I’m asking…if you are in Sue’s shoes, what would you do?  

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