Boston residents of all ages gathered outside Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office — at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building — Thursday to support Christine Blasey Ford, who accused U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, on the morning of her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Coordinated by Sarah Horn, a Boston University College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, on behalf of the Women’s March National organization, the Boston Solidarity Speakout was one of over 50 similar speakouts across the United States that invited survivors and allies to share their stories of assault and stand in solidarity with Ford.
Horn said she felt the need to speak out on behalf of victims after having grown up in the same hometown of Bethesda, Maryland, as Kavanaugh and Ford.
“I found it really appalling that he’s so close to being rewarded with more power after going through life in a really cavalier way, hurting whoever and not even remembering it,” Horn said.
Ford said that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her while they were both high schoolers in Maryland. She delivered a testimony of her experiences Thursday morning, followed by a response from Kavanaugh who spoke in defense of his character.
City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, told The Daily Free Press she was concerned by how society currently treats victims of sexual assault.
“At the end of the day, government is failing because society is failing,” Pressley said. “This is a society of rape culture which has a very high tolerance level and threshold when it comes to matters related to sexual violence. And so, you could chalk it up to culture, but culture is simply human behavior.”
Speakout participants arrived outside Warren’s office with posters in support of Ford. Some even dressed as handmaids from the Hulu television show “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to comment on the sexism and oppression of women they noticed in society.
Similar to other attendees, Dillon Wiesner, 27, of Cambridge, said he was disappointed with the way Congress was handling the accusations and that he wanted to show solidarity with sexual assault victims.
He said he attended the speakout to “protest the expedited nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and, also, ask for an impartial FBI investigation of accusations against him.”
At one point, the crowd broke into a chant of repeating the word “investigate,” as a response to the call for an FBI investigation into the multiple sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. In addition to Ford, two other women have accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting them or being involved in their assaults.
Ephie Aardema, 27, of Jersey City, New Jersey, shared her personal story of assault with the crowd.
“I hope that more women will be emboldened to come forward,” Aardema said. “I hope that more women will feel safe and comfortable and accepted to tell the truth about what happens to them.”
After the speakers shared their experiences with violence and assault, the crowd took a five-minute moment of silence in support of Ford.
As Horn was preparing to head home to watch the remainder of the hearing, she said she hoped the speakout and testimonies would give people more respect for women and assault survivors who choose to share their stories to incite change.
“In society, I hope that it shows that there are people willing to believe women, willing to come forward,” Horn said. “I hope it shows that whether or not you’re ready to share your story, some people are, and it shows that it takes a lot of bravery to do that.”