It only takes one moment in time to spark a movement, that is what we are witnessing today as Donald Trump is questioning why Christine Blasey Ford didn’t report her alleged attack by Brett Kavanaugh 36 years ago. Trump tweeted:

“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed…” 

Dan Rather says:

I have covered many stories of trauma in my career. Attacking victims of trauma for how they “should have behaved” is heartless and is completely oblivious to the dynamics at play.

And if Trump thought that tweet would help Kavanaugh, he better not check Twitter. His tweet (and his words at a rally Thursday night) prompted tens of thousands of women (and men) to tell their own stories with the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport.

It’s easy for Trump, a man who has been accused of sexual assault himself to dismiss Ford for not coming forward earlier, but the irony is that in many cases it is powerful men like Trump who have prompted women to keep their stories quiet.

It was 1982. The same period that Jessica Leeds says Donald Trump groped her on an airplane.

Leeds told NYT she didn't bother complaining to airplane staff, bc this type of stuff happened all the time in the 80s:

“We accepted it for years. We were taught it was our fault.” https://t.co/t4trtUWBva

— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell) September 21, 2018

Here are some of the other stories.

Hey, @realDonaldTrump, Listen the fuck up.

I was sexually assaulted twice. Once when I was a teenager. I never filed a police report and it took me 30 years to tell me parents.

If any survivor of sexual assault would like to add to this please do so in the replies. #MeToo https://t.co/n0Aymv3vCi

— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) September 21, 2018

I was 17. Raped by a friend. I was confused. In denial. Afraid. His parents were richer & better connected than my parents. He was a “good” student. Ppl liked him. The only friend I told–responded w: “He wld never do that.” I didn’t think anyone would help me. #WhyIDidntReport https://t.co/YbCuIMg07M

— Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) September 21, 2018

#WhyIDidntReport. The first time it happened, I was 7. I told the first adults I came upon. 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.

— ashley judd (@AshleyJudd) September 21, 2018

I had no idea assault wasn't okay because pop culture taught me that my body existed solely to be objectified and enjoyed by men and it
it didn't occur to me that I was allowed to even have a say in who touches my body until I was literally 30 years old. #WhyIDidntReport

— Whitney Cummings (@WhitneyCummings) September 21, 2018

https://twitter.com/cmwalla/status/1043206180842209281

#WhyIDidntReport Because I wasn’t ready to confront it. I’m still not. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I’ve written and deleted this tweet dozens of times bc even saying this much is scary.

— TheBloggess (@TheBloggess) September 21, 2018

I was sexually assaulted by at least 3 different babysitters by the time I was 6 years old.

One told me I'd get in trouble if I told.

I didn’t say anything for years because of the shame.

I finally told my mother when I was 24.

My mother told me I was lying.#WhyIDidntReport

— Marcus J. Carey (@marcusjcarey) September 21, 2018

I was four, and he said he’d kill me. #WhyIDidntReport

— David Leavitt (@David_Leavitt) September 21, 2018

He had been a close friend and coworker, and even though I was devastated and hurting, I was still nervous about him losing mutual friendships or getting in trouble. I've been in therapy for years. I doubt he even remembers.#WhyIDidntReport https://t.co/AYmwATrzGx

— Alayna Smith (@alaynacs) September 21, 2018

A very fair question:

Does Trump also doubt allegations of priest sexual abuse because the boys didn't come forward at the time?

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 21, 2018

Reminder: Every single person posting #WhyIDidntReport is reliving their trauma to try and teach folks to extend long overdue empathy and protection. The folks posting are only a drop in the bucket – so many people aren't (and may never be) ready to relive that trauma.

— Kirsten King (@KirstenKing_) September 21, 2018

If #WhyIDidntReport doesn't break your heart, you don't have one.

— Pedro da Costa (@pdacosta) September 21, 2018