WATCH: ‘Too often women’s memories and credibility have come under assault,’ Feinstein says at Kavanaugh hearing

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Thursday that women face serious challenges in coming forward with stories of sexual assault.

Watch Feinstein’s full opening remarks in the player above.

The ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who testified Thursday morning about her allegation that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s. Feinstein said the allegation raise questions about Kavanaugh’s character.

She criticized the committee’s Republicans for scheduling the hearing without an investigation from the FBI. “What I find most inexcusable is this rush to judgment, the unwillingness to take these kinds of allegations at face value and look at them for what they are: a real question of character for someone who is asking for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court,” she said.

“While young women are standing up and saying no more, our institutions have not progressed in how they treat women who come forward,” Feinstein said. “Too often, women’s memories and credibility come under assault. In essence, they are put on trial and forced to defend themselves, and often re-victimized in the process.”