With the character of a Supreme Court nominee so clearly in question, we, the undersigned, along with Treehouse Institute Executive Director Adam Burk, are asking Sen. Susan Collins to take a stand.

The prevalence of sexual violence in our society demands action. It is a national crisis, and one that is of urgent concern in our own state of Maine: About one-third of the female respondents to the Maine Crime Victimization Survey state that they have been sexually assaulted by men. This is not a time for equivocation or obfuscation. It is a time for clarity and leadership.

Sexual assault is wrong. Today, tomorrow and 35 years ago. These truths are not up for debate. All claims demand full investigation, while protecting the safety of survivors.

Yet, it dismays us, as men, to see how male power and privilege are used to suggest that these are not absolutes. That, somehow, there continue to be loopholes, like “He was drunk” or “They were just teenagers.” And when those loopholes don’t work, that men are all too often able to shield themselves from any consequences of their behavior.

Confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would be yet another reification of the very power structures that have allowed men to behave this way and get away with it.

It is time to stop making excuses for and protecting men who commit sexual assault.

Sen. Collins has a unique opportunity to help change the noxious culture of violence against women. We hope she will do so and oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Matt Theodores

executive director, Maine Boys to Men

Cumberland Foreside

Philip Walsh

executive director, Maine Initiatives

Portland

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