Brittany Higgins speaks at Women’s March 4 Justice rally
Alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins has spoken at a March 4 Justice rally telling the crowd: “You’re all here not because you want to be here, but because you have to be here.”
NSW
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Alleged rape survivor Brittany Higgins has told thousands of protesters at a women’s march in Canberra her story is a “painful reminder to women” that if assault could happen in Parliament “it could happen anywhere”.
TV personality Lisa Wilkinson surprised the huge crowd at the March 4 Justice rally by inviting Ms Higgins onto the stage to speak about the issues facing women who come forward with allegations of sexual assault or harrassment.
“We are all here today, not because we want to be here, but because we have to be here,” she said.
“We fundamentally recognise the system is broken, the glass ceiling is still in place and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institutions.”
Ms Higgins said it was “unfathomable” that women were still having to have the “same, stale, tired fight” when it came to issues of believing and supporting victims of abuse.
“I was raped inside Parliament House by a colleague,” Ms Higgins alleged.
“And for so long it felt like the people around me only cared because of where it happened, and what it might mean for them.”
Ms Higgins said she was “dismayed” when the media revealed the long list of MPs and other officials who became aware of her alleged rape over time.
“A list that seemed to grow by the day as truth about internal reviews, Senate committee submissions, office cleans and witness accounts were all unearthed,” she said.
“These are the people making our laws and governing the country.
“As our leaders, they should be the exemplar of the gold standard.”
Ms Higgins said the last few weeks since she had gone public with her allegation had been “extremely difficult” on a very “personal level”.
She said she watched as Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly apologised to her, but then later learned some in the government had sought to “actively discredit and undermine” her loved ones, including her partner.
“I was dismayed by seeing the male journalists who routinely implied that my partner was pulling the strings behind the scenes,” she said.
“The subtle inference being that a traumatized woman wasn’t capable of weaponising her own story.”
“I watched as people hid behind throwaway phrases like due process and presumption of innocence while failing to acknowledge how the justice system is notoriously stacked against victims of sexual crime,” she continued.
“I read the advice from defence chief Angus Campbell who advised women on how not to fall prey to those who have the proclivity to harm others, advice aimed solely at modifying the behaviour of victims and does nothing to address the actions of perpetrators.
“This isn’t a political problem. This is a human problem. We’ve all learned over the past few weeks just how common gendered violence is in this country. It’s time our leaders on both sides of politics stop avoiding the public and sidestepping accountability. It’s time we actually address the problem,” Ms Higgins said.
Thousands of protestors also gathered at Town Hall in Sydney as part of theAustralia-wide rallies calling for an end to violence against women.
An estimated 2500 protestors gathered at Town Hall at 12pm on Monday demanding reform as part of the Women’s March 4 Justice movement following allegations of sexual assault in Federal Parliament.
Holding placards calling for an end to sexual violence and chanting “the women united will never be defeated,” the protestors demanded change, saying they won’t back down until their demands are met.
“We are marching for justice and we won’t stop marching until we get change ... every single woman and ally who is here today will not stop raising our voice,” MC Jaime Evans said.
The protestors split into groups of 500 for their march towards Parliament House, in line with NSW Health capacity restrictions. The participants chanted “justice, now.”
Protestor and mother-of-one Sara Yusuf, 36, said she decided to join the protest to push for more action on violence against women.
“I’m here today because in every household a woman is affected by violence ... it is the biggest public health issue we are facing,” she said.
“We need to give a voice to the voiceless... and the government needs to listen.”
The large majority of protestors wore masks, however, social distancing was difficult because of the volume of people who attended.
The police presence was small, with a few police scattered among the crowd. Event organisers peacefully separated crowds into 500-person groups themselves, with police watching on ready to assist.
Major roads across the city, including George and Elizabeth streets were blocked off by police to make way for the protestors.
Hannah Guez, 20, said she and her friends, Hope Pratt, 21, Tess Balodis, 20 and Leah Banyard, 20, decided to march to “fight for women’s rights” and take a stand against the sexual assault allegations which have rocked parliament.
Hope, Hannah, Tess and Leah have joined the #March4Justice rally today to “fight for women’s rights.†They join thousands of other protestors taking a stand against gendered violence. pic.twitter.com/ADjJokbE0X
— Georgia Clark (@GeorgiaBClark) March 15, 2021
The March4Justice movement is demanding all politicians “address and put an end to the issues of sexism, misogyny, dangerous workplace cultures and lack of equality in politics and the community at large.”
Specifically, the rallies are calling for a full police investigation into allegations of sexual assault and misconduct by members of parliament and staff.
Protest organiser Janine Hendry said the protests would “make history” and urged participants to be COVID-safe by wearing face masks and socially distancing.
“This is a peaceful protest and a safe protest. Let’s take care of each other and ourselves as we make history,” she said on Monday morning.
Ms Hendry bumped into Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack in the halls of parliament on Monday, where she asked him to commit to acting on protesters’ requests.
“I’m certain that we’ll absolutely look at it,” he said.
Participants are calling for an independent review by the High Court into “gendered violence in Australia Parliaments,” Australia-wide strategies for “deep cultural change in work places, and the political and criminal justice systems” and a Federal ICAC.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to meet a small number of people from the Canberra rally to discuss their concerns.
But event organiser Janine Hendry chose not to accept the Prime Minister’s offer to meet, instead saying he should meet with all of the protesters.
“More than 100,000 women and allies from every walk of life are standing up to speak. How could meeting with just three women be enough?”
A spokesperson for March 4 Justice said the rallies were about pushing for “systemic change,” starting with the culture at Parliament House.
“Women of Australia do not need more meetings or reports by expert bodies on what needs to be done to end gendered violence,” they said.
“Parliament House must be a safe place to work and it must make laws that are enforced that make women safer, in their homes, in their workplace and going about their daily lives.”
“They have had enough advice about what to do. It’s time for action, right here right now.”
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