2023-06-15 07:58:08
Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe said Thursday that she was sexually harassed by unidentified “powerful men” in the halls and stairwells of Canberra Parliament, a workplace that has been consistently criticized for being unsafe for women.
“I received sexual comments and inappropriate propositions from powerful men,” Thorpe sobbed before the Senate, adding that one of them even cornered her on a landing on the Parliament steps in full view of her staff and several colleagues, although she did not identify the alleged attackers.
“As every woman who has walked the halls of this building knows that it’s not a safe place“, added the legislator, who asked that security be reinforced in all dark places and with little visibility.
Thorpe, who said today that he will not report these incidents to the Police or sue the alleged aggressors in court, accused the Liberal senator the day before David Van of harassing and sexually assaulting her, without providing further details, although he later withdrew the accusation in front of the chamber, for violating parliamentary rules on the complaint procedure.
In response, Van stressed his innocence, although today he admitted that moved office in 2021 dAfter Thorpe complained to then-President of the Senate, the liberal Scott Ryan, that Van’s behavior made her uncomfortable.
This Thursday, Van asked the Senate to open “an investigation into these outrageous claims so that they can be shown to be false.
In the midst of this controversy, the leader of the Liberal Party, Peter Duttonindicated that he has asked Van to step back in the formation, although he stressed that this is not linked to the accusation made by Thorpe.
It’s not the first time that alleged sexual crimes perpetrated in the Parliament of Canberra are reported.
In 2021 the former employee of the Liberal Party Brittany Higgins She denounced having been raped in 2019 by a colleague in one of the ministerial offices within the Legislative headquarters.
Yes ok the complaint was finally filed At the end of last year, as a result of the impact of the legal process on Higgins’ mental health, the Australian Government apologized to him in February 2022 before Parliament for not having ensured his safety.
The official apologies they were part of the response to 28 recommendations issued in November 2021 by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who led an inquiry into work culture in Parliament.
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