Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy begins by saying Ford has been an inspiration regardless of how this plays out.

"No matter what happens...I know, and I hear from so many in my own state of Vermont, there are millions of victims and survivors who have been inspired by your courage. I am. Bravery is contagious. That's the driving force behind the #MeToo movement."

"Have you told us everything you remember about the day leading up to" the alleged incident, the prosecutor asks.

She asks if she was swimming at the country club earlier that day.

"That is my best estimate," Ford responds.

She says she had not had any alcohol or medication that day before arriving at the party, where she has said she had one beer.

Image source, Reuters

"You were very clear about the attack," Feinstein says.

"Being pushed into the room - you don't know quite by whom but that it was Brett Kavanaugh that covered your mouth to prevent you from screaming. How are you so sure that it was he?"

Ford smiles. "The same way that I'm sure I'm talking to you right now. Basic memory functions."

"Also, just the level of norepinephrine and epinephrine in the brain - that neurotransmitter encodes memories into the hippocampus so the trauma-related experience is kind of locked there, whereas other memories drift."

"This could not be a case of mistaken identity?"

"Absolutely not," Ford replies, leaning into the microphone, voice confident.

"The primary impact was in the initial four years after the event. I struggled academically. I struggled very much in Chapel Hill, in college," Ford says in response to Senator Feinstein's questions.

"I had a very hard time, more so than others, forming new friendships and especially friendships with boys. I had academic problems."

Ford's voice remains full of emotion as she answers questions of her life after the assault.

Jon Sopel, North America Editor, BBC News

It is hard to overstate the passions, the conspiracy theories, the mistrust and division this Supreme Court appointment has stirred. To make sense of this you have to understand two things about the Supreme Court - justices are appointed for life, and the Supreme Court, not politicians will ultimately decide on the most contentious issues of the day - from desegregating schools in the 1950s to abortion law, to gun control, to same-sex marriage.

It was the Supreme Court that decided the outcome of the 2000 presidential election in favour of George W Bush. You name it, they rule on it.

Image source, Getty Images

In the 2016 election, many Republicans voted for Donald Trump while holding their nose - but they did so because they thought he'd deliver on their long cherished dream of delivering a Supreme Court with a clear conservative majority - for a generation.

Now they fear it is slipping away. And the fact that Brett Kavanaugh's accusers have come forward at the last minute is seen by many Republicans - mostly male - as a Democrat-inspired plot, not as a legitimate complaint.

Image source, Getty Images

The culture wars that have simmered in America for fifty years are finding an extraordinary flashpoint today: cultural conservatives versus #MeToo.

And in this battle, Brett Kavanaugh and the female complainants are just collateral damage. The reverberations of this hearing will echo for a long time to come

Senator Feinstein begins by sharing letters from women across the country.

"Why have you held it to yourself all these years?" she asks Ford.

"I haven't held it in all these years - I did disclose it in the confines of therapy where I felt it was an appropriate place to cope," Ford replies.

"What impact did the events have on you?"

"For me, personally, anxiety, phobia, and PTSD-like symptoms are the types of things I've been coping with. More specifiically, claustrophobia, panic."

Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, who will grill Ford, begins her questioning.

"I know this is stressful and so I I would like to set forth some guidelines that will maybe alleviate that a little bit," she says.

She asks that Ford not guess, and that if she "estimates" that she specify so.

Ford nods and says "fair" in response.

Image source, Getty Images

Ford insists that her allegation is not politically motivated, but says apart from the assault itself, these weeks have been "the hardest of my life".

"I have had to relive my trauma in front of the entire world, and have seen my life picked apart by people on television, in the media and in this body who have never met me or spoken with me.

"I have been accused of acting out of partisan political motives. Those who say that do not know me.

"I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one’s pawn."

"It is not my responsibility to determine whether Mr Kavanaugh deserves to sit on the Supreme Court. My responsibility is to tell the truth."

Image source, EPA

"All sexual assault victims should be able to decide for themselves whether their private experience is made public," the professor says.

With a shaky voice, she describes debating whether or not to speak up, afraid of the repercussions.

And Ford says her greatest fears about coming forward have been realised.

"The reality has been far worse than what I expected. My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable."

"This has resulted in additional emails, calls and threats. My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, with guards."

"This past Tuesday evening, my work email account was hacked and messages were sent out supposedly recanting my description of the sexual assault."

In a voice that seems to crack with emotion, Ford says the trigger for her to tell her husband about the alleged assault came six years ago during an extensive remodel of their family home.

"I had never told the details to anyone until May 2012, during a couples counselling session. The reason this came up in counselling is that my husband and I had completed an extensive remodel of our home, and I insisted on a second front door, an idea that he and others disagreed with and could not understand.

"In explaining why I wanted to have a second front door, I described the assault in detail. I recall saying that the boy who assaulted me could someday be on the US Supreme Court and spoke a bit about his background.

"My husband recalls that I named my attacker as Brett Kavanaugh.”

Ford's testimony continues:

"Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life.

"For a very long time, I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone the details. I did not want to tell my parents that I, at age 15, was in a house without any parents present, drinking beer with boys.

"I tried to convince myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should be able to move on and just pretend that it had never happened."

This is the key segment of evidence that has just shaken the capital:

"When I got to the small gathering, people were drinking beer in a small living room on the first floor of the house. I drank one beer that evening. Brett and Mark were visibly drunk."

"Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom.When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn’t see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them."

"There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me."

"It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me.

"I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes.

"He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me.

"I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life.

"It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack.

"They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark was urging Brett on, although at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not."

"He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me."

"I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes."

"I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help."

"When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life."

She continued that it became difficult to breathe, adding that she thought he was "accidentally going to kill me".

Ford: "I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t remember as much as I would like to.

"But the details about that night that bring me here today are ones I will never forget.

"They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult."