“They saw men in power who were believing other men in power over women who suffered gravely,” she said in an interview. “They saw that disbelief and dismissiveness of women and they felt disbelieved and dismissed themselves.”
Judge Kavanaugh, she said, is very much a part of the male power structure that was being challenged. “His defense was, ‘I am powerful, I am successful and I should be allowed to complete my career path by serving on the Supreme Court,” she said.
Asked about his drinking or yearbook boasts of sexual conquests, Ms. Gillibrand said, “His response was: Look at my résumé. I have bigger to fish to fry than dealing with what I said about women and my own behavior in high school and the relevant period when she says he sexually assaulted her.”
Still, Ms. Gillibrand said she was sitting behind Dr. Blasey in the hearing and watching Senator Jeff Flake, the Arizona Republican who made his vote to advance Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination conditional on having the F.B.I. investigate.
“He was listening,” Ms. Gillibrand said. “He’s been listening.”
The moment may be particular to Washington, and the bitter divides in the Senate, where Democrats are angry at Republicans for refusing to hold hearings for Merrick B. Garland, President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
On the campaign trail, by contrast, female candidates are coming forward to assert themselves as survivors of sexual misconduct. Many are winning, and polling has shown that a majority of voters cast doubt on candidates who say the #MeToo movement has gone too far.
Institutions have been slow to change. But women who have brought charges of sexual misconduct say that as more women come forward, they inevitably will.
“The limits are about actual real power,” said Ms. Smith, the lawyer. “Unless women really do take power in the legislature, in courts, in C-suites, in every aspect of life, unless we demand and take our share, nothing will ever, ever change. They are not going to give it to us. We have to take it.”