Anita Hill brands Senate’s handling of Brett Kavanaugh accusations ‘a real mockery’

Anita Hill has addressed the Senate’s handling of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, amid the sexual misconduct accusations against him, calling it “a real mockery”.

During a lecture in Utah on Wednesday, Professor Hill drew parallels to how the Senate Judiciary Committee has handled Mr Kavanagh’s accusations to her own experience 27 years ago.

Professor Hill accused senators of rushing to confirm Mr Kavanaugh rather than “getting to the truth”. She called the process “a real mockery”, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

As it was in Professor Hill’s case, when she accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment prior to his confirmation to the high court in 1991, Professor Hill said Mr Kavanaugh’s accusers have similarly been discredited and targeted in character assassination attacks. Justice Thomas has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Speaking to a packed room at the University of Utah – on the eve of Dr Christine Blasey Ford’s scheduled testimony addressing her accusations that Mr Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when the two were in high school – Professor Hill said it was likely senators would reduce her accusations to a “he-said, she-said situation”.

“We have seen and heard many of these same answers for the women coming forward now,” she said. She added: “...They’re setting it up to be that again”.

Indeed, GOP senators have since released statements accusing Dr Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegations as being part of “Democrats’ tactics”.

Two other women have since accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Mr Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations against him.

Although Professor Hill, an attorney and professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis University, said it would be “inappropriate” to directly compare her experience with Justice Thomas to that of Mr Kavanaugh’s accusers, she remarked on the way public figures have reacted, The Tribune reported.

US President Donald Trump said in press conference on Wednesday night that the accusations against Mr Kavanaugh were "all false” to him.

Professor Hill also took aim at criticism that Dr Blasey Ford had not reported the alleged assault sooner, calling attention to the startling statistics of sexual assault cases that go unreported. Her lecture at the university was titled "From Social Movement to Social Impact: Ending Sexual Harassment".

“When you think about why women don’t report, think about the toll that it could take,” she said. “We know that the reporting is not immediate. I think that’s a lesson that’s been lost on some of our public figures as they discuss the Kavanaugh nomination.”

Professor Hill, who testified about her sexual harassment allegations during Mr Thomas’ confirmation hearings – prior to the era of the #MeToo movement – has often discussed the hurdles she faced as a black woman testifying before an all-white panel of male senators in 1991.

"Access to equal justice for all is what was at stake in 1991, and it's what's at stake now," said Professor Hill according to NBC.