Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has apologized to a former political adviser who claimed she was raped by a senior colleague in a ministerial office in parliament.
Brittany Higgins said she feared losing her job after the 2019 incident, and that her bosses had little support.
Me. Higgins, 26, spoke in a TV interview on Monday about shock and outrage over her treatment.
Mr. Morrison apologizes for the government’s handling of her complaint.
The allegations are now under renewed police investigation.
Mr. Morrison said he was “crushed” by her allegations and called for parliament’s environment and culture to be reviewed.
“I hope Brittany’s call is a wake-up call for all of us,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
But Mr. Morrison also drew criticism for saying he understood the allegations better after considering it a father of two girls.
What does Ms Higgins claim?
Me. Higgins, then 24, got a new job at Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds when she went for a drink with a group, including her alleged attacker, an older male colleague.
She said she offered her a lift home at the end of the night, but he took her to the parliament building.
Ms Higgins said she was drunk and fell asleep in the minister’s office before waking up when the man sexually assaulted her.
“I essentially woke up during the rape,” she told Network Ten. “I started crying … I told him to stop.”
According to her, the man left immediately afterwards.
After Higgins notifies her employer, she feels Reynolds’ office is trying to “manage” the situation and disregard her trauma.
“It felt like I was becoming … it immediately became a political problem,” she said.
Ms Higgins said Reynolds told her she would be supported if she went to pursue a complaint from the police, but she felt she was under pressure not to do so, believing it would end her career.
She said the meeting with the minister was also held in the room where the alleged attack took place.
“There was a loop in my mind about this trauma that I would only compare a little bit to and I thought it was unfathomable that they would put me in such a place again,” she said.
Ms Higgins said her alleged attacker was considered an ’emerging star’ of the party.
She spoke for another minister in the Liberal Party of Mr. Morrison worked before ending politics.
What was the reaction of the Prime Minister?
Mr. Morrison specifically apologized for the meeting in the office of Ms. Reynolds, where me. Higgins claims the rape took place.
He said such an event “should not have happened” and said it would review the complaints procedure in parliament.
The prime minister also announced an overview of the professional culture of parliament, saying that problems were moving across party lines.
“I want to make sure that any young woman working in this place is as safe as possible,” he said.
Mr. Morrison said he refuted the allegations of Ms. Higgins discussed with his wife, which helped him clarify his view.
“She said to me, ‘You have to think of this as a father first. What would you want if we were girls?’ ‘
His comments drew a lot of criticism on the internet from women who suggested that Morrison not have to do it.
“It does not have to be a man who has a daughter for him to treat women who have been assaulted with empathy and respect,” author Jamila Rizvi wrote on Twitter.
What does this show about Australian politics?
Australian politics has long faced accusations that they are a hostile environment for women.
Me. Higgins’ case again focused the public inquiry on the experience of women in Canberra, especially in the ruling Conservative party. They were earlier accused of disguising sexual misconduct.
Prior to the 2019 general election, Morrison denied that his party had a ‘women’ issue after the departure of several female lawmakers.
One of the former MPs, Julia Banks, tweeted on Monday: “Once again, the House of Commons proves that this is the most unsafe, toxic workplace culture for women in the country.”
Ms Higgins said she was motivated to express her experience after an ABC inquiry last year made allegations of misconduct by government ministers.
At the time, Mr. Morrison also criticized for interrupting a female minister who responded to a question about what it is like to be a woman in parliament.