Woman who claims Liberal staffer assaulted her says party has treated her ‘reprehensibly’

A woman who has claimed she was assaulted while working for a Liberal politician has revealed why she was told to not come forward.

A woman who claimed a Liberal Party staff member assaulted her while she was working for a senior politician says the treatment she has received from the party has been “reprehensible”.

Dhanya Mani said she was told she could be responsible for New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian losing the recent state election if she came forward with her allegations. Another said she would be “destroying the perpetrator’s life” and asked about “fairness for him”.

Speaking to SBS’s The Feed on Thursday night, Ms Mani said she wanted to sit down with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and for him to make “meaningful change” to the party.

The Liberal Party was “not safe” for young women, she said.

Dhanya Mani claims she was assaulted by a Liberal staff member. Picture: SBS.

Ms Mani is one of two women who have come forward in the last week to claim they were assaulted by Liberal staffers while working for the party.

In 2015, she worked for the speaker in the NSW parliament. That year she claimed a NSW Liberal parliamentary staffer came to her house, forced himself on her and started to masturbate.

At one point, he put his hands around her Ms Mani’s neck and started to choke her.

“A man who I didn’t want to be in my home came to my home uninvited and was on top of me choking me and achieving sexual gratification from that while I couldn’t move and couldn’t speak,” she told Nine.

When she approached senior members of the party, Ms Mani alleged they said she “should kiss him (to) give him some sort of consolation prize”.

Neither woman raised the alleged assaults with the MPs they were working for, and neither went to the police. The men have not been identified.

The Liberal Party has been left reeling from the allegations.

Senator Michaelia Cash, who once served as the Government’s minister for women, called the staffers’ claims “serious” on Wednesday and said their complaints “should be referred to the appropriate authorities”.

However, she denied the party had a problem.

“No, we do not have a problem with women,” Senator Cash said.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Liberal Party vice-president Karina Okotel also said the “absolutely horrific allegations” should be “dealt with”.

“It’s not enough that it be just dealt with by an internal process. In fact, I would say that’s sweeping it under the carpet to just hush it up and not let the appropriate authorities, who are the police, deal with allegations of sexual assault.”

.@KarinaOkotel on Liberal sexual assault allegations: They are allegations that certainly need to be dealt with. If they are found to be guilty, they need to be taken off the street.

MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #firstedition pic.twitter.com/f8uNsvhFNi

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) July 30, 2019

However, Ms Mani said not dealing with the issue and instead directing people to go to the police was tantamount to sweeping the issue under the carpet.

“Going to the police about sexual harassment is incredibly hard,” she said. Leaving that as the only avenue would inevitably lead to victims remaining quiet.

But Ms Mani said staying quiet was exactly what the party hierarchy seemed to want her to do.

“A senior woman said to me incidents between party members was not our concern. One response that stuck with me was, do you want to be the reason Gladys loses the election? Do you want to do that as a feminist?

“(Another reaction was) you’ll be destroying the perpetrator’s life. What about fairness for him?”

The pushback appalled her, she said.

“If you want to talk to the person who has damaged the party’s reputation, talk to the person who did this to me,” Ms Mani said.

She said she wanted a face-to-face conversation between her, Mr Morrison and Chelsey Potter, the other woman to make allegations against a party member.

“I would like Scott Morrison to know the way I’ve been treated is completely reprehensible. He needs to meet with us, hear what we have to say and make meaningful change.

“The party has wilfully ignored this problem for an incredibly long period of time.

“I’ve given so much of my time to this party since I was a teenager. I’ve done everything that’s been expected of me, and all I’ve got is complete silence or being told that I’m somehow wrong or behaving inappropriately.”

Senator Michaelia Cash has insisted the Liberal Party does not have a problem with women. Picture: Kym Smith

The Feed host Marc Fennell asked Ms Mani if the party was a safe place for a 17-year-old, which was the age she was when she began to become involved with the Liberals.

“I wish I could say it’s safe but it’s not,” she replied.

Ms Mani said she had a message for the man she claimed assaulted her.

“He forced me to drop out of the party for two years … he traumatised me. But I’m not going anywhere. I will be perusing my complaint. He will not be getting away with it.”

The party has said “harassment and assault are completely unacceptable” and Ms Mani was offered support and “encouraged to notify the appropriate authorities”.

If you need help, please call the national 24-hour sexual assault helpline 1800-RESPECT (1800 737 732)