Christine Blasey Ford is a research psychology professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. She is also the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were both teenagers, a story she shared with the Washington Post on Sunday. On Monday, Ford’s lawyer, Debra Katz, told NBC’s Today that her client is prepared to testify before Congress if necessary and is “willing to do whatever it takes.”
Apparently others decided they would threaten Ford with the same. On Tuesday, it was reported that Ford’s home address was posted on online, and that she and her family had received death threats. Ford and her family were forced to hire private security and go into hiding.
One day later, on September 18, Georgetown University law and philosophy professor Heidi Feldman set up a GoFundMe campaign to help Ford cover the costs. And by today, September 19, the campaign had already surpassed the $100,000 goal by 20%. According to Feldman, she does not know Ford personally and prearranged details for a funds transfer through a high school classmate of Ford’s. Feldman wants to “make it easier for women in her position to come forward despite great risks,” she wrote on the campaign page.
Feldman also wrote on the campaign page that extra funds collected through the fundraising campaign will be donated to women’s organizations, and possibly into an account held to cover similar costs in comparable situations.