Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday formally took his seat on the nation’s highest judicial body, in what is known as an investiture ceremony that was attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
But six weeks after testifying to a Senate committee about her sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh, Christine Blasey Ford continues to receive threats and is still working on “recovering from the experience and returning to her job responsibilities,” Ford’s lawyers told NPR.
“Justice Kavanaugh ascended to the Supreme Court, but the threats to Dr. Ford continue,” they said in a statement.
Unlike Kavanaugh, who was confirmed to the court on Oct. 6 despite Ford’s allegations and began working at the high court the next day, Ford has yet to return to her job as a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in Northern California, according to her lawyers.
A spokeswoman for the school did not immediately return a request for comment from HuffPost.
The discrepancy between Kavanaugh and Ford’s experiences offer a sharp counterpoint to the concerns raised by critics of the Me Too movement, who often lament that men facing sexual misconduct accusations have endured harsh career consequences.
In September, Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she and her family “have been the target of constant harassment and death threats,” since she came forward with her claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school.
She also was forced to temporarily relocate from her home and hire private security, resulting in several GoFundMe campaigns to assist her and her family.
In her wrenching testimony, Ford detailed the lifetime of trauma she has experienced as a result of the alleged incident.
Sexual harassment and assault have also sidelined survivors’ careers or forced them out of industries, and can have lasting consequences on their health.