This past month has brought up many memories from my years as a young woman. With the controversy surrounding Brett Kavanaugh having subsided from the news a bit, it’s left me reflecting on my own experience and has led to conversations with my high school and college friends. We have been asking ourselves, how do these stories relate to our own experiences? Unfortunately, what we’re seeing today is all too familiar.

I attended high school in the 1970’s and college in the early 1980’s. My friends and I recently recalled the measures we took to defend ourselves from being victims of sexual predators among our peers. We protected each other by going to parties in packs and taking inventory to ensure that we didn’t leave a lone female friend behind at a fraternity party. During Senior Week in high school, we literally locked our friend in a bedroom to protect her from a a classmate known for sexual assault.

I cringe thinking about these memories. Why did we go to these parties? Why did I accept these circumstances as normal, when I would never accept them now? Yes, it was a different time. During our coming of age, it was not acceptable to go to the police or talk to our parents. Sadly, we simply took it upon ourselves to deal with horrendous behavior from young men. We did not hold them accountable, nor did we push our parents, teachers, elected officials or community leaders to address the issues that we knew were happening on our college campuses and at high school parties.  

My sincere hope is that following this recent controversy, we can all take an honest look at the crimes that Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of committing and collectively admit that the behavior described was not unheard of during that time. Young women have always had to contend with the scenarios described by Dr. Blasey Ford, and they still do. They happen every day. We are making progress, but without acknowledging how frequently these situations occur, we will never help the next generation to stop accepting what generations before them have as normal.

Fast forward, now that I am a leader, with a platform, I can make it clear that sexual harassment and predatory behavior is unacceptable.  With more awareness and frankly, more women in leadership positions, I believe we will.