Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., who spent more than two decades in the Air Force, for the first time publicly said that a superior officer not only raped her, but that when she finally came forward with the assault, the country she put her life on the line to serve utterly failed her.
“Like many victims,” McSally said during a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing, “I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”
That sexual violence in the military is at epidemic proportions is no secret. 2020 contender Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has made battling sexual violence among our armed forces a priority of both her career and campaign, and McSally opened her remarks thanking the presidential hopeful for spearheading legislative action on the matter.
It was a moment that was not just powerful for being bipartisan, but specifically for being bipartisan on a matter that Republicans for too long have been rather remiss in addressing.
Or, if you’re Jill Filipovic, it’s a powerful moment to rip on McSally for being complicit in the “staunchly anti-feminist” conservative movement.
This is complicated by the fact that McSally is a member of the exact movement that is hostile to sincere and holistic efforts to combat violence against women, and that folds misogyny into much of its politics. But feminists do want all women to benefit from our gains.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 6, 2019
It would be better, of course, if those experiences led to more humane policy positions (and a tougher look at men in power who stand accused of sexual assault, like Kavanaugh, whose confirmation McSally supported). But things don’t change overnight. This is a sign of progress.
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 6, 2019
So in Filipovic’s mind, McSally, who has made it abundantly clear that she intends on using her platform to bring Republicans back into the forefront of combating sexual violence, is still aiding and abetting in stonewalling actions to advance justice for sexual assault victims?
This take isn’t just counterproductive to every possible and existing sexual assault victim in the country; it’s evil. Yes, conservative focus on the very real attacks on due process and Title IX overreach have distracted too many in the movement from the very real problem of pervasive sexual violence and abuse in the country. But using McSally’s public confession of what one can only assume is one of the worst, most traumatic, and ugliest experiences in her life as a political bludgeon to attack not just her as a senator but her intentions as a victim of rape is beyond cheap.
It’s beyond tasteless. It’s downright vicious, a warning to every conservative woman wishing to come forward in the future with their own stories of sexual abuse — perhaps to impact policy, or maybe even just to let other victims know that they are not alone — that their most vulnerable and heartbreaking moments will be used against them.
Filipovic doesn’t just accuse McSally’s defense of Brett Kavanaugh as being misguided. It’s not even “humane.” God forbid McSally wanted a single shred of evidence, say one witness, to corroborate an iota of Christine Blasey Ford’s account. No, instead McSally must be vilified. Too bad if you want to save thousands of women from the pain you experienced in the military! You wouldn’t have voted to ruin a man’s life based on a single accusation without one hair of evidence confirming that Kavanaugh ever even met Ford, let alone assaulted her. So screw off, Jill Filipovic says.
Segments of the Right may still have a problem understanding the pervasiveness of sexual violence in the country. Lord knows I’ve called out my own side about it, many, many times. But nothing does more harm for victims of sexual violence than the evil, deranged stunt Filipovic just pulled on Twitter.
