‘It is now time to heal’: Higgins breaks silence on Lehrmann case

Rape victim and former Liberal Party political staffer Brittany Higgins has declared it is “now time to heal”, using her first public comments since the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case to reveal that her health, memory and relationships have all been affected by the past five years.

In her first statement since Justice Michael Lee found Higgins had been raped by Lehrmann in a ministerial office in the early hours of March 23, 2019, she said no court judgment was ever going to change the truth of her rape.

Brittany Higgins has made her first public comments since the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case, saying it is time to heal.Credit: Rhett Wyman

In a historic decision in the Federal Court on Monday, Lee upheld Ten and Wilkinson’s truth defence to Lehrmann’s defamation claim over an interview with Higgins broadcast on The Project on February 15, 2021.

Lee was satisfied Ten and Wilkinson had proved to the civil standard – on the balance of probabilities – that Lehrmann raped Higgins. He found that Lehrmann was “hell-bent on having sex” with Higgins, had encouraged her to drink, and did “not care one way or another whether Ms Higgins understood or agreed to what was going on”.

Higgins said while her life had been upended by the events of the past five years, it was now time to move forward.

“I was raped. No judgment was ever going to change this truth. I lived with the shame, humiliation and fear of what telling my story would mean for my life and career, like so many other survivors,” she said.

Bruce Lehrmann departs court after the verdict on Monday.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“My health, memory and relationships have been impacted by my rape.

“I was 24 when I was raped in Parliament House. It has been five years of criminal and civil trials and government inquiries for the truth to finally be heard. It is now time to heal.”

In his judgment, Lee dealt with the actions of rape victims towards their assailants, noting it was not unusual for Higgins to have remained civil towards Lehrmann in the days after the incident.

He said it could “be readily characterised as the actions of a woman who had not yet come to terms with what had happened to her, but needed to confront the reality that she had to work out a way of being in the same professional office as a male colleague who had assaulted her”.

Higgins’ struggle over how to respond would “no doubt … resonate with many women working in any type of workplace who have had to find some way of coping with such a predicament”.

Higgins said while she did not agree with everything in Lee’s judgment, the judge had set a new benchmark for how courts treated rape victims.

“Thanks to Justice Lee for his trauma-informed approach, recognising that reactions to assault can vary wildly,” she said.

“In doing so, I hope he has set a new precedent for how courts consider the testimonies of victim-survivors of sexual assault.

“While I do not agree with all of Justice Lee’s findings, I do respect his observations about the many people scarred and damaged in the aftermath of my rape.”

Higgins was also critical of the interview and access given to Lehrmann by Channel Seven’s Spotlight program.

“I was devastated that a rapist was given a nationwide platform to maintain his lies about what happened. I trust that those who contributed in any way to the program will reflect on their decision,” she said.

Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, are facing two separate defamation claims from former defence minister Linda Reynolds in the West Australian Supreme Court over statements the couple published on their separate social media accounts.

Both Higgins and Sharaz have defended their respective cases, which are being heard concurrently due to their overlap.

Fiona Brown outside the Federal Court in Sydney last year.Credit: Steven Siewert

Higgins used her statement to say she was sorry to both Reynolds and the minister’s former chief-of-staff, Fiona Brown. In his judgment, Lee said he preferred the evidence of Brown to that of Lehrmann and Higgins where their accounts conflicted.

“Senator Reynolds and Fiona Brown have also been hurt, and for that, I am also sorry,” Higgins said.

“My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks after my rape are different from theirs. I deeply regret we have not yet found common ground.

“I hope we can resolve our differences with a better understanding of each other’s experience.”

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