Christine Blasey Ford: The woman who could sink Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh. Pic/AFP

Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has come forward to accuse US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault more than three decades ago, is a clinical psychology professor whose academic work has been widely published. Ford, 51, teaches at Palo Alto University, south of San Francisco, in a consortium with Stanford University. According to an archive of her LinkedIn professional networking page, she has worked as a research psychologist at Stanford since 1998, and also taught psychology at Pepperdine University. In the private sector, she worked as a consultant to biotech companies in Silicon Valley, specializing in biostatistics.

The articles Ford has published have addressed a wide range of topics, including depression and the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina and earned a Master's degree in clinical psychology at Pepperdine University. She also earned a Master's in epidemiology and biostatistics at Stanford. Ford earned her PhD in educational psychology at the University of Southern California. Ford came forward with her allegation concerning Kavanaugh in July, when she sent a confidential letter detailing the alleged assault to her congresswoman as well as veteran Senator Dianne Feinstein.

She spoke out herself on Sunday, telling The Washington Post that Kavanaugh and one of his friends -- both "stumbling drunk" -- pinned her down, groped her and tried to pull off her clothes. Kavanaugh also covered her mouth when she tried to scream. Ford was 15 at the time of the alleged incident and Kavanaugh was 17. Both were attending prep schools in the Washington area. "Now I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation," Ford told the Post. Ford said she had kept silent about the alleged incident until she and her husband were in couples therapy in 2012. Ford said through her lawyer on Monday that she was willing to testify in public about the alleged attack.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegation, and 65 women who said they went to high school with him have signed a letter saying that in the 35 years they have known him, he has "behaved honorably and treated women with respect." A group of women who went to Holton-Arms, the prestigious private girls' school outside Washington, are circulating their own open letter that had garnered more than 200 signatures as of Monday. The signatories said they were grateful to Ford for coming forward and urged a "thorough and independent" investigation before any vote on Kavanaugh's nomination to the nation's highest court.

"Dr Blasey Ford's experience is all too consistent with stories we heard and lived while attending Holton," the letter states. "Many of us are survivors ourselves." "Holton's motto teaches students to 'find a way or make one.' We dream of making a world where women are free from harassment, assault and sexual violence," it added.

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