Bowen Basin mine camp patron allegedly sexually assaulted

A young miner was walking back to her camp room when a man allegedly attacked from behind, gagging her mouth and touching her inappropriately. And she says it was not the first time it has happened.

It was only her second day back at work when a young woman heard footsteps following her as she walked back to her Coppabella mine camp room.

It was 9.40pm on Friday when the woman in her 20s began walking the short distance home from the laundry.

But as the young miner approached her door, the woman said a man came up from behind, gagging her mouth with his hand as he groped her body.

“He was bigger than me,” she said.

“He reeked of alcohol. I was terrified.”

It was 9.40pm on Friday in Coppabella when the 22 year old began walking the short distance home from the laundry. Picture: Heidi Petith

Despite her fear, the young woman said she surprised herself and managed to fight back.

“I was able to get out of his grip and kick him,” she said.

The young woman said she took her mother’s advice and “kicked him where the sun don’t shine” and he scrambled out the door.

But it was a while before the young woman could do anything more.

“I collapsed there on the floor, I was in shock,” she said.

“I was comprehending what could have happened.”

When she was able to get up, she ran straight to the dining hall where she found a friend who quickly alerted the camp officials.

‘I collapsed there on the floor’.

“They called the police straight away,” she said.

“I’m still in shock. I’m trying to comprehend it.

“You don’t expect this to happen to you.

“That’s my workplace and you go out there wanting to know you’re safe.”

The woman said she didn’t even know her attacker, having only been back on site for two days after a six month break.

“I’ve worked in the mines since I was 19,” the woman said.

But she said this was far from the first time such a horrific experience had happened, estimating she knew at least 20 women in the industry who had also been sexually assaulted.

‘We already cop a lot being girls in the mining industry’. Picture: Tara Miko

She said while there were strong sexual harassment and assault policies in place, including perpetrators losing their job if found out, a stigma stopped many women from coming forward.

“Girls are afraid to speak out,” she said.

“We already cop a lot being girls in the mining industry.

“Some of the guys don’t think girls belong out here.

“So speaking out on it, it scares the girls, because they think it’s proof that women shouldn’t be out here.

“But men shouldn’t do what they do.

“I think a lot of the girls in those situations, they put the blame on themselves.”

The woman wants the man who attacked her brought to justice, and the culture around reporting sexual assault and harassment changed.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident.