Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the university professor who has accused him of a past sexual assault, are expected to testify Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations.
During the hearing, the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center plans to host a live Twitter chat.
Their mission is not to weigh in on the nomination, but rather watch and call out any language or action that blames the victim, Executive Director Mary Ellen Stone says.
"We are not a partisan organization. We are not looking for the outcome, but what we are looking at is the process," said Stone. "We believe that the way we talk about sexual assault has a direct impact on people's willingness to come forward, their willingness to speak out."
Robin Hopkins says it took more than 30 years for her to speak out.
"The hardest part truthfully for me was talking about it and letting it out there into the universe for people to hear it because you don't know how people are going to respond," Hopkins explained.
Hopkins says she was sexually abused from the age of seven until right before she went into the ninth grade. She explains that she suffered with the secret until age 51, not even telling some of the people closest to her.
"I was afraid of hurting my mom. I was afraid I wouldn't be believed," said Hopkins.
When Hopkins was ready to tell her story, she told it at the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.
"It changed my life because it was the first time I had spoke about it out loud. The first time those words had passed my lips," said Hopkins. "Unless you've lived through it, you don't understand what it is like to come forward and how scary it is to take that step."
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center will use their Twitter account, @KCSARC, during the live chat along with #WordWatch.
"The language that we are looking for is language that blames victims, language that minimizes the assault, and language that implies consent," said Stone.
The hearing will begin at 7 a.m. PT.
