Several days of restraint ended Friday morning when President Donald Trump launched a Twitter attack on the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.

Scarsdale Psychiatrist Jeffery Smith says it's the backlash that people like Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill can face that keeps many people quiet for years.

"People are disbelieved, they're talked down, they're shamed," says Smith. “It's really hard to fathom the courage that it takes to step forward and put the most personal, painful and difficult part of your life on display for the whole world.”

Women's activist Lauren Leader says coming forward can be a life-changing decision.

“The climate of social media today, any accusation becomes public news and that's not fair to anybody,” says Leader.

She says it may be difficult for a person to come forward because it may mean risking their livelihoods.

“If it was your daughter, if it was your sister, if it was your mother, your wife – we need a deeper level of empathy in this country,” she says.