SYDNEY – When Brittany Higgins stood in front of the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on Monday, she told the crowd, “I speak out of distress.”
“We are all here today not because we want to be here, but because we have to be here,” the former government staff told the thousands of people, many dressed in black.
“I was raped by a colleague in the House of Commons, and for so long it felt like the people around me just cared about where it happened and what it could mean to them,” she said.
The protest in Canberra was one of dozens of protests on March 4 held in Australia this week, caused by several allegations against men in the country’s power halls.
Last month, the 26-year-old Higgins became famous with the allegation that she was raped in 2019 by an unnamed male colleague in a ministerial office. Police are investigating, but no arrests or complaints have been made.
Days after her allegation, details emerged in which Attorney General Christian Porter was accused of rape in 1988 decades ago. “The allegations did not happen,” Porter, who vehemently denied the allegations, told reporters earlier this month. The allegation is now the subject of an ongoing libel action by Porter. He also takes extended sick leave.
While these two allegations were against those within the ruling Conservative government, news.com.au reported the existence of a social media group in which female staff members for the opposition party shared their experiences of a ‘toxic culture’ in the parliament building.
The party’s deputy leader, Richard Marles, said in a statement: “It is our house that we need to get in order, and these are really heinous allegations.”
The idea of the protests began with a tweet from a Melbourne woman, Janine Hendry, suggesting a group of women gather outside the parliament building on Monday to express their outrage.
Before long, thousands of other women said they would join their own cities and towns or venture out into the streets.
Tens of thousands of Australians have taken part in 40 linked events in recent days, each with banners with messages such as “Why would she lie?” and “Enough is enough.”
“Recent revelations show that the House of Commons has a culture of misogyny and that it is an unsafe workplace,” Hendry told NBC News.
‘It seems that the government is completely out of their depth and does not want to listen to the concerns of everyday women. And worse, there seems to be a culture of denial and cover-up. We demand transparency and action. ”
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Hendry and other protesters demanded a full independent investigation into all cases of gender-based violence and the timely referral to appropriate authorities. ‘
‘It’s a parliamentary problem, an Australian problem, it’s a global problem. “It will always be a problem where there is a gender imbalance in power,” she said.
And surveys show that this is indeed a national problem. According to a survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2018, 39 per cent of women say they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace over the past five years.
Hayley Foster, CEO of the advocacy group Women’s Safety NSW, joined the Canberra protest, which she said was part of a nationwide ‘uprising’.
“There was a realization that it was something important and that everyone there was part of a very historic event … This is a turning point. Not just for parliament, but workplaces and schools are going to be much more vigilant about this and much more responsive to disclosures after the past month. ”
Foster said there should be not only cultural change in Australia, but also criminal law reform and increased funding for women’s security services.
‘[In Australia] 98.5 percent of sexual predators will not be held accountable and will be considered innocent in the eyes of the law because our criminal justice system is so inaccessible. It is so ineffective to give survivors of sexual assault a fair result. ”
‘I am hopeful that there will now be more action as a result of [the protests] … I have a feeling Australians are not going to back down from this. ‘
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday he was too busy going outside after the Canberra protest but offered to meet a small delegation of organizers in his office. The organizers refused, saying, “We will not meet behind closed doors.”
On the protests, Morrison said “those who gather here and across the country today do so out of a sense of great frustration and great concern … It is a deserving frustration and concern that I share.”
But he also calls the marches a “triumph of democracy” because protesters were not met with a bullet as in some other countries.
The opposition Labor Party, Tanya Plibersek, who holds the title of shadow minister for women, said the prime minister had missed the point “deeply”.
‘[The comment] that we should be grateful, that we are in a place where you are not shot for a march, was so from the point, ‘she said.
One protester quickly made a sign with the caption “How good is ScoMo not to shoot us”, using Morrison’s portmanteau and adapting his slogan “How good is Australia”.
The prime minister’s office did not respond to specific questions about the protests, but rather to one of Morrison’s previous statements.
“The issue of violence against women remains a very high priority for my government … We have launched an independent inquiry looking at the broader issues of dealing with staff and their protection,” he said.
This was not the first time the government has been criticized since the recent claims of sexual assault.
Shortly after Higgins made her claim, the Australian newspaper reported that her former boss, Linda Reynolds, Australian Minister of Defense, called her a ‘lying cow’. Reynolds, meanwhile, has apologized and is now on extended sick leave.
Meanwhile, Morrison stood by Porter after an allegation that he raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988 when he was 17 years old. The allegation appeared last month when an anonymous letter was sent to several politicians, including Morrison, containing a statement from the alleged victim. .
The woman in question died by suicide last year and the police in New South Wales concluded their investigation with reference to ‘insufficient admissible evidence’.
But as this settlement continues, Australians like Higgins say they will not rest until discrimination against women and sexual assault are properly addressed.
“We have all learned over the past few weeks how common gender violence is in this country,” she told the crowd on Monday.
‘It’s time for our leaders on both sides of politics to stop avoiding the issue and to be accountable. It is time for us to address this issue, “said Higgins.