‘I have carried the shame’: Anonymous stories of sexual assault in Parliament

More than 500 people spoke to Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins about their experiences of the workplace culture in Parliament House.

Her report, released on Tuesday, included a powerful set of anonymous quotes from those contributors, who alleged rape, sexual assault, harassment, and bullying. These are all separate anonymous quotes taken from various submissions to the inquiry.

Hundreds of people responded to a review of the workplace culture at Parliament House.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Sexual assault

“The MP sitting beside me leaned over. Also thinking he wanted to tell me something, I leaned in. He grabbed me and stuck his tongue down my throat. The others all laughed. It was revolting and humiliating.”

“I didn’t want to do that to the Party and I didn’t want to do it to the Parliament. I didn’t want the headlines. I didn’t want all the bad shit that was going to come with it.” – Speaking of their decision not to report an incident of sexual assault in the workplace to their employer.

“[There were] aspiring male politicians who thought nothing of, in one case, picking you up, kissing you on the lips, lifting you up, touching you, pats on the bottom, comments about appearance, you know, the usual … the culture allowed it.”

“[At] after work drinks [a senior party member] put his hand up my skirt.”

“I was encouraged to settle the issue privately, so as to not create a fuss or a political problem.” – Speaking on being pressured not to report a sexual assault.

“I was indecently assaulted by a staffer in the office I was placed.”

“For decades I have carried the shame of both incidents. I now realise that being paralysed by shock, coercion, fear or a feeling of powerlessness absolutely does not constitute consent. But I didn’t realise it then and I punished myself for a long time.”

“I was a victim of sexual assault by a male senior staffer in a senior office.”

“I was sexually harassed multiple times, sexually assaulted, bullied and terrorised. And I was told that if I ever sought help or spoke about what happened to me my professional reputation and personal life would be destroyed.”

“The other issue that really affected me a lot was [a male colleague] kissed me on the neck in the lift. There were no cameras.”

“I was staying with a colleague … who assaulted me in his apartment.”

“[He] actually put his hand up my skirt and tried to kiss me at that party. And it was quite disgusting. And I was also told by state parliamentarians and members of the party constantly that they need young, sexy, attractive women in the … party ... it’s just off, it really is off.” – A participant talking about an MP.

“I woke up the next morning naked in my bedroom in the hotel. I don’t know what happened.”

“I have female colleagues who take fake binders … to committee meetings so a male MP won’t try to kiss them … I’ve had colleagues caressed by senators in committee meetings in front of lots of people, I’ve had a junior colleague say she was groped by … MPs from another country and she didn’t want to make a fuss so put up with being their liaison for days.”

“There are particular, to be totally blunt, predators [who] everybody knows about, and it’s always [like] when is the story going to break on them?”

Power imbalance

“I shared [a room] with this guy … and he spent the whole night getting me drunk … and then just laid on this whole thing about how he had an open relationship with his wife, and basically do I want to have sex with him? So this is … [my] manager. I’m young, in Canberra, drunk now, trying to shut my door … and I lay there the entire night, completely petrified that I would pass out, and he would be there.”

“I do often describe Parliament House as the most sexist place I’ve worked. I guess there is a workplace culture of drinking. There’s not a lot of accountability. The boys are lads. And that behaviour is celebrated and … they do treat women, our female staffers and female admin staff, quite differently. Young women, particularly media advisers coming in, particularly the younger women coming in, were like fresh meat and challenges.”

“[There is] a real culture of gossiping about young female employees … who they’re sleeping with … whether they’re having an affair, whether a perfectly innocent friendship is actually an affair … I think it’s really upsetting for a lot of those young female employees that they can’t just be judged on their work, and that there’s always this sort of subtext of who they’re sleeping with.”

“I thought it was normal to tell people that they should avoid certain people at events. I thought it was normal to tell people how to take alcohol to remain safe. Now that I look back on it, that is insane.”

“I got told beforehand, ‘Don’t get too drunk. You’re a young gay man. He’s a predatory older gay man. And he’ll go for it. If there is the right opportunity, he will pick a target in a room, ply them with booze and then try it on’.”

“As a brown woman, I would never feel comfortable discussing this openly. People were terrible to Brittany Higgins, a beautiful and brave white woman who was a Lib staffer. No one would believe me. I appreciate the chance to tell my story and get this off my chest.”

Bullying

“The more senior women in that office systematically bullied me and one of the other women to the point where we were both in tears. Frequently, like at least every week, the advice was go and cry in the toilet so that nobody can see you, because that’s what it’s like up here.”

“My office manager sighed and said they’d wondered how long it would take until [the perpetrator] started bullying me, and that [they] had done this to other staffers previously.”

“You can just tell straightaway, as soon as he walks in. Every drama in his life, whether it’s personal or professional, becomes my drama because it’s just how it is, and how he takes it out on his staff.” – Describing working for an MP.

“One tried to commit suicide, another admitted themselves into a mental facility. I know three women [who worked in Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces] that are still seeing psychologists. One had a marriage breakdown, and one has completely dislocated with her children as a result of the direct influence of that Member of Parliament. Others have … decided to take different journeys … I will never work in a political office again, it’s not worth it.” – On colleagues who struggled working in an MP’s office.

National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au).