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Patti Davis, the author and daughter of President Ronald Reagan, announced Friday that he was sexually assaulted several decades ago, adding his voice to the women who defended Christine Blasey Ford.
In an opinion piece in The Washington Post, Ms. Davis said that she was in the office of a prominent music executive about 40 years ago when he went through the room and is forced to take it so quickly that she froze.
"I lay there while he was pushing inside me," Ms. Davis wrote. "The leather sofa stuck to my skin made noises beneath me. His breath smelled of coffee and stale bread. He did not use a condom.
Ms. Davis, 65, is a writer and speaker whose latest novel, "The Earth Breaks in Colors," was published in 2015. Her article in The Post, which did not name an abuser, was published five days after Dr. Blasey, 51, is presented as the woman who had accused Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh of having sexually assaulted her in adolescence. Judge Kavanaugh denied the allegation.
Among his critics' questions: Why did not Dr. Blasey report what had happened immediately and why can not he remember some details today – for example, the address of the house where she stated that the assault had occurred?
In her opinion piece, Ms. Davis gave her own answers to these types of requests.
"I do not remember what month it was," she said about her experience in the executive office. "I do not remember if his assistant was still there when I arrived. I do not remember if we said something when I left his office.
She added that memories can work differently during a traumatic event: "Your memory allows you to take pictures of details that will haunt you forever, that will change your life and live under your skin. It obscures other parts of the story that really do not matter. "
Ms. Davis's defense against Ms. Blasey came after some senators questioned her allegations against Justice Kavanaugh.
Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah and a member of the Judiciary Committee, suggested that Dr. Blasey was "Cheated" or "mixed" in his memories. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, described his charges as an attempt on the character of the judge, calling them "false allegations".
President Trump also questioned Blasey's credibility on Friday, saying that if the attack "was as bad as it says," it would have been reported to the authorities.
But Dr. Blasey's supporters – including several senators – pleaded for his defense. And many women, like Ms. Davis, have presented their own stories of abuse and aggression. Among them, the author Caitlin Flanagan, a collaborator of The Atlantic who spoke about The Daily about an attempted rape while she was in high school.
Some joined the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, which encouraged social media users to post their reasons for staying silent after abuse or aggression. On Twitter, women shared reasons that include feelings of shame or confusion, not wanting disappoint family members and one fear of retribution of the assailant.
Others said that they had reported abusebut nothing has been done.
"It does not surprise me that for more than 30 years, Christine Blasey Ford has not spoken about the aggression she recalls, the one she blames Supreme Court Commissioner Brett M. Kavanaugh," Ms. Davis wrote.
She added, "Maybe older men who are willing to question her, unless they're hiding behind surrogates, should pause and think about the courage that it's It takes a woman to say, here is my memory. It has been haunting me for decades. It changed my life. You must know it now because of the stakes for this country. "
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