Written by Livia Albeck-Ripka
A former government official’s account of being raped in Australia’s Parliament building sent shockwaves through the country’s corridors of power on Monday, and the ruling Conservative party came under intense criticism for the way it handled the case.
Women’s rights advocates called it an extreme example of what has long been described as a culture of misogyny that has ousted several women from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s coalition government.
Former staff member Brittany Higgins, now 26, said she was attacked nearly two years ago after a night out with her colleagues. Higgins, who appeared in an interview published on the news site news.com.au on Monday, had been in a new job for weeks as a media adviser to Defense Minister Linda Reynolds.
She said a male colleague, widely regarded as a rising star within the Liberal Party, offered to drive her home. Instead, he redirected the taxi driver to Parliament House, where, he said, he assaulted her after she had fallen asleep on a sofa in the defense minister’s office.
She has not publicly identified the man.
He said he had quickly briefed Reynolds, along with more than a dozen others, including members of the House of Parliament staff.
In response to a phone call from The New York Times, Higgins’s partner relayed his comments via email. Higgins said that although he had initially brought charges to the police, he later withdrew them due to internal party pressure. She said she had been forced to choose between going to the police and keeping her job.
The case remains open but is not under active investigation as there has been no formal complaint from Higgins, according to a statement from police in the Australian Capital Territory.
The government, which called the allegations “deeply distressing,” said in a statement that it “regrets in some way if Ms. Higgins felt unsupported in this process.” But she said Reynolds had encouraged her to speak with police “to evaluate the options available to her.” The defense minister did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Higgins later quit his job.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.