Thirteen percent of women in college have reported being stalked with 80% of survivors stating that they knew their stalker, according to Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth.

   “Sometimes at night, I would feel scared to go out to my car at my old apartment complex. But now that I moved to a house, I feel a lot safer,” said Caitlin Rendel, a junior at Valencia College and Orlando resident. “I normally try to avoid being out places late at night by myself and if I am, I’ll make sure I carry pepper spray with me when I go, which makes me feel a little bit safer. At my house, my roommates and I have bats that we keep in our rooms.” 

  According to a report published by UN Women, approximately 736 million women have been victims of intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.  Seventy six percent of women murdered by an intimate partner were initially stalked, with women aged 18-24 reporting the highest rate of stalking victimization. 

“I wouldn’t say domestic violence has gotten better or worse, but I will say that I feel people speak out against it more often now,” said Rendel. “We have a long way to go but I do think it’s a good start.” 

The body of Marcano, a Valencia College student, was found eight days after her initial disappearance from her apartment in Central Florida. 

 The Orange County Sheriff’s Department believes Armando Manuel Caballero, a maintenance worker at Arden Villas, is solely responsible for Marcano’s death. According to deputies, Caballero utilized a master key fob to access Marcano’s apartment and was waiting inside when she returned home. 

 “It’s critical to raise awareness around topics like domestic abuse and other forms of trauma, so we can support victims who reach out for our help,” said Nina Mendes, communications assistant at Valerie’s House, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling for grieving families in Naples, Florida.  “We can always work to better our understanding of grief and learn new ways to assist victims. Cases like these bring loss and bereavement into the spotlight.”

 The murder of Miya Marcano follows the death of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, whose body was found in Wyoming after her disappearance while on a cross-country road trip with her fiancé. The stories of both young women’s deaths sparked a resurgence in discussions regarding women’s safety within the country.  

  October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and universities throughout the United States continue to implement new security protocols to protect their student population. 

 “Personally, my roommates and I have agreed to let everyone in our apartment know when we put in any maintenance requests, so we have a good idea of when people who work in our building should be entering and exiting our unit,” said Cassidy Batts, a junior at the University of Central Florida. 

 Mandatory sexual assault training, campus-wide safety buttons that summon university police and an increase of accessibility to Title IX resources have become commonplace throughout the country’s colleges, all serving as methods to protect young adults. 

 “A lot of people aren’t sure what to say or do in these types of situations,” said Mendes.

“By shedding light on these sensitive issues, we can provide various avenues of support to ensure lasting recovery and healing.”

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It doesn’t seem to matter much to some male voters whether or not Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is guilty of sexual assault. Many had made up their minds long before Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations were made public.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll done over the past week showed that party affiliation was still the main deciding factor in people’s disapproval or approval of the embattled nominee, despite rising opposition among women. Between the nomination in August and recent allegations in mid-September, Democratic men’s support fell slightly, while Republican men’s support for Kavanaugh rose slightly.

In Washington D.C. yesterday, those trends were confirmed. For left-leaning men, the allegations only added to their concern over Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court.

“I had concerns about him before this episode with Dr. Ford,” said John Rilley, of New Jersey, outside of the White House. “I am very concerned. I don’t support him. I don’t think he tells the truth.”

Shane Bogin, from Los Angeles, was also visiting the White House.

“It seems like regardless of the sexual assault allegations he doesn’t hold the humility or the integrity of that office,” Bogin said.

He rattled off a list of reasons why he had initially opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination. He did not approve of Kavanaugh’s general lack of candor during the initial Senate hearings or his refusal to commit to recusing himself from future rulings related to the Robert Mueller investigation.

Additionally, Bogin was not satisfied with Kavanaugh’s answers regarding his awareness of the well-documented inappropriate conduct of his former employer Judge Alex Kozinski. As reported by CNN, Kavanaugh’s written responses to the Judiciary Committee state that he became aware of Judge Kozinski’s inappropriate sexual conduct toward female staffers when the various stories were reported in the media.

“The list is decent,” he said. “Perjury for me is pretty much a deal breaker and $200,000 of mysterious debt, from buying season tickets apparently. That seems questionable.”

Bogin’s friend, Matt Marquardt of Seattle, agreed. He sees Blasey Ford’s allegation as another example of Kavanaugh’s unfitness for the office.

“I think that they’re all linked,” Marquardt said. “I think that if you’re a Supreme Court Justice you have a duty to be transparent and be an upstanding citizen and an allegation like this is directly linked to your suitability to be a Supreme Court Justice.”

However, some men who were excited by the Trump’s choice of Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy continue to support him, despite Ford’s allegations.

Austin Webb, 30, of Texas, believes Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a great choice for the Supreme Court. He does not believe Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault. Photo by Emma Bolton.

“I think he’s a great pick,” Austin Webb, of Texas, said. “Honestly, I feel like it’s a last ditch effort to delay the pick.”

Webb said he cannot speak to Ford’s credibility, but felt that the allegation, whether true or false, is not enough to disqualify Kavanaugh from ascending to the Supreme Court.

“Is there someone out there that has a completely spotless record?” he asked. “Because we’re talking about something from high school, right? We all did dumb things in high school. If you look hard enough into anybody’s past, especially someone who is up for a position like that, I think you’re doing to find something to be opposed to.”

Keith Acker, from Ohio, who visited D.C. with the Fire & Iron Motorcycle Club, feels that Judge Kavanaugh is being set up for political reasons.

“I think it was all a set up,” Acker said. “I think (the Democrats) found somebody to put off the nomination to see if they can get a hold of the House and Senate.”

He believes Kavanaugh is needed on the high court.

“I completely support him,” he said. “He’s a Constitutionalist. I want a Supreme Court who goes by the Constitution and not put their personal opinion or put their own spin on things.”

To Acker, it’s more than just a political play.

“Either she’s lying or she is mistaken on the incident,” he said. “Honestly, I think she’s lying.”

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Nearly 30 years ago, a teenager was sexually assaulted and had her life changed forever as she left her high school’s halls with traumatic humiliation and guilt. While this is the story that remains only an allegation of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, countless women share an eerily similar tale that they are forced to relive as they watch her alleged perpetrator seek a spot on the Supreme Court.

Ford accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals, of sexually assaulting her while they were in high school. With an experience that mirrors Ford’s alleged assault all too well, Christine McCoy has dedicated the past week to voice her opposition against Kavanaugh’s nomination. Like many women, the details of her assault will never leave her mind or body’s memory.

“My experience was pretty much the same,” she said, surrounded by some of her closest friends and neighbors while relaxing in a Pret A Manger after protesting in Washington, D.C. “You put stuff behind you but when things like this come into the public, I burst into tears the other day just thinking that I was never able to get any closure.”

The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) reports that every year, nearly 400,000 children and adults are victims of sexual assault. As rampant as the issue is, only a handful – about six in 1,000 – perpetrators are sentenced to prison.

“(Ford) represents so many survivors like Christine (McCoy) who never got the opportunity to share their story, to be believed, to not be ashamed,” said McCoy’s friend Anne Seymour, a national crime victim advocate. “There are so many indignities that women have suffered and in my work it’s on a minute-by-minute basis.”

“I’m enraged and I can’t believe this is happening in 2018 and that we’re survivor-splaining,” she added. “We should not have to do this.”

Page Croyder, 62, knows the systematic oppression these women have faced all too well. Before taking to the streets of Washington, D.C., with a sign reading only ‘hunger strike’ to protest Kavanaugh’s nomination and to stand in solidarity with Ford, Croyder was a Baltimore prosecutor who dealt with sex and child abuse cases. The cases she worked on and the work environments she witnessed as a woman in in a man’s world of law, have made her an outspoken advocate for women’s and victim’s rights.

“I can’t speak for young women now, but in my day, we very much eternalized the expectations of women,” she said, standing on the corner of Constitution Avenue and First Street. “When you’re victimized, that situation already puts you in a loss of power. So whether the person is about to sit on the Supreme Court or whether it’s your uncle or your father or whoever it was, seeing them go about their normal life while you are sitting there damaged is constant revictimization.”

Page Crowder went on a hunger strike in Washington, D.C., to stand in solidarity with Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school. Photo by Li Cohen

Kavanaugh’s potential confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice has enraged thousands of other women like Seymour, who have taken to social media to express their own opinions. Many have shared their own survival stories using #WhyIDidntReport, #CancelKavanaugh and #MeToo. Many who haven’t shared their stories have loved ones taking a stand on their behalf.

“I know people that have (been assaulted) and I know ladies that still to this day wouldn’t come forward,” said D.C. resident Val Silva-Horva, who was speaking with protesters outside the White House. “This persecutes them all over again. It reminds them of what happened to them and the fact that there is no voice that stands up for them.”

Anisha Singh, senior organizing director for Generation Progress, has helped with several sexual assault court cases. She explained in a phone call that Senate Judiciary Committee members and many other government officials are not formally trained in dealing with sexual assault victims, as evident in the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill case in 1991.

“What ends up happening in these situations – and we saw it happen with the Clarence Thomas case – is that Anita Hill was attacked,” she said.“The people sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee didn’t let her talk, they didn’t really listen to her and weren’t respectful toward her. That process was so bad toward the survivor, and yet this one feels like it’s going to be so much worse.”

Although Silva-Hora, Seymour, McCoy and Ford have all come forward in some way over the past week, Silva-Hora acknowledged that the work they are putting in will not change how society sees victims of sexual assault if Kavanaugh is still confirmed for the Supreme Court.

“The only thing that’s going to change is that more women are going to say ‘I don’t matter;’ more girls are going to say ‘I don’t matter,’” she said. “And you know what – more young men are going to say ‘Hell yeah, I can do whatever I want to you. The president says I can. That Supreme Court dude, he says I can. Congress says I can.’”

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Some conservative women continue to support Judge Brett Kavanaugh despite recent sexual assault allegations.

Pam Moran, 58, a Republican from central Ohio who was visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C., said she was fed up with accusations like those of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that took place decades ago.

“My issue is I’m sick and tired of all these women coming up 30 or 40 years later and claiming sexual abuse,” said Moran. “If it’s recent, I have no problem with it, but if it’s 30 or 40 years ago, do something back then. And if it’s that bad, do something back then, don’t deal with it now.”

According to a recent NBC poll, 70 percent of Republican women support the judge despite the sexual assault allegations.

Pam Johnston of Las Vegas, Nevada, was visiting the White House with her husband, and said Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford deserve a chance to be heard..

“All women need to be heard,” Johnston said. “Everybody needs to be heard, but he can’t fight against something he hasn’t heard other than through the airwaves like we have. I think it’s wrong to automatically say he’s guilty and not appoint him because of this.”

Johnston also disapproved of Dr. Ford’s timing and how the judiciary committee processed the accusations.

“You’re innocent until proven guilty,” Johnston said. “She should have come forward already, so he could clear his name. I think it’s terrible the way they’re handling it.”

Other conservative women pointed to a liberal agenda and the Democratic party. Mandy Marlowe of Fredericksburg, Virginia, works for The Religious Freedom Coalition and challenged the presumed liberal political strategy.

“Personally, I think it’s absurd,” said Marlowe. “I think that liberals are doing whatever they can to delay the process so they can get whoever they want into that position.”

Addison Puffer, 19, from Pueblo, Colorado, is a sophomore in college studying international business. She also works for the Colorado Republican Committee as a field director for the 2018 midterm elections. Puffer has been a long-standing supporter of Judge Kavanaugh and believes he is the best nomination for the United States Supreme Court.

“I have always been very impressed with Judge Kavanaugh,” Puffer said in an email. “I have been supportive of President Trump’s decision to appoint him to the Supreme Court. I believe he will do a great job of protecting the U.S. Constitution and advocating for our rights as American citizens.”

Although Puffer is concerned about allegations of sexual assault, her support of Kavanaugh has not wavered.

“I am always concerned when I hear that an individual was allegedly involved in sexual misconduct,” said Puffer. “However, I do not reconsider his nomination.”

Puffer said she would continue to support Kavanaugh until further evidence is brought forward to prove Judge Kavanaugh is guilty.

“I do not believe the number of victims coming forward makes a difference unless there is substantial evidence to prove he was involved,” Puffer said. “Therefore, my opinion to confirm Judge Kavanaugh will remain the same until investigators can without a doubt prove that he is guilty.”

Shaun Marie Levine, Executive Director of the Conservative Party of New York State, supports Kavanaugh and questions the timing of Dr. Ford’s allegations.

“Judge Kavanaugh represents everything I stand for,” Levine said in a phone interview. “From where the accusations stand right now, I would have to question the timing. Why wait to come forward when it happened so long ago? Why wait until just a few days before the vote?”

But Levine recognized that more evidence would hinder her support and that Judge Kavanaugh’s reputation is tainted.

“If more women came forward, I would have to change my opinion,” said Levine. “No matter what happens at this point, half the world will always believe the allegations are true.”

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