Women must feel safe working in our halls of power

Brittany Higgins.

Trial by media is an unedifying spectacle, more so when two young people are in the frame. In the case of a staffer alleging rape in Parliament House, the shiny lure of ratings and rolling clickbait overwhelmed the duty to present news in an objective manner.

It has been nearly two years since Brittany Higgins alleges she was assaulted by a colleague in Parliament House. After organising a Friday night out with workmates, she became so heavily intoxicated that she fell over. She recounted that the “face-plant” made her realise she had drunk too much and should go home. A colleague suggested they share a taxi and said he needed to pick something up from work on the way. They were employed in the office of Linda Reynolds, then defence industry minister. Higgins alleges that once inside the office, she lay down on the minister’s couch because she felt unwell. She allegedly woke up from pain in her leg and found her colleague on top of her. She alleges he was midway through raping her and she asked him to stop at least six times. He allegedly got up afterwards and left her on the couch.

On Saturday, The Weekend Australian revealed another woman had come forward to allege the same man had assaulted her. She said they met during the 2016 election campaign, kept in contact and went out to dinner late last year. She, too, recalls drinking a lot of alcohol on the night. They allegedly went to her place and were going to have sex, but he refused to wear a condom. She alleges that despite her having objected to sex without a condom, he persisted.

Despite humanity’s great advances in complex fields, we have been unable to stop the scourge of rape. The cultural norm of heavy alcohol use does not help. In Australia, more than 100 people die and more than 3000 people are hospitalised every week on average from excessive alcohol consumption. According to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, excessive use of alcohol is related to about half of reported sexual assault cases. It also is a major contributing factor to other forms of assault such as domestic violence and homicide.

A few days before Higgins was allegedly assaulted, the ABC reported on Canberra’s low rape prosecution rate. ACT policing had received 75 reports of rape in six months, but only four led to charges. Higgins decided not to proceed with lodging a formal police complaint in 2019 and now claims she had little choice in the matter. The Project host Lisa Wilkinson last week introduced her bombshell report on the alleged assault with the portrayal of Higgins as: “A young woman forced to choose between her career and the pursuit of justice.” The New York Times repeated the claim after Higgins’s partner relayed comments she made by email. He said she didn’t pursue charges “because of internal pressure from the party”. Higgins wrote: “They intentionally made me feel as if I was going to lose my job so I wouldn’t go to the police.”

The government disputes this version of events, saying Higgins was offered support to pursue a police complaint. After learning of the alleged assault Reynolds’ chief of staff, Fiona Brown, immediately referred Higgins to the Employee Assistance Program. Higgins also met with the Parliament House Police Unit. Reynolds also encouraged the junior adviser to report the alleged assault to the police. A week later, Higgins went to the AFP station in Belconnen. However, later in the month she informed the police she did not want to lodge a formal complaint and cited “current workplace demands”.

According to news.com.au, which broke the story, Higgins chose to speak about her experience after seeing the Prime Minister congratulating Australian of the Year Grace Tame, a survivor of sexual assault. Higgins said: “I was sick to my stomach … He’s standing next to a woman who has campaigned for ‘Let Her Speak’ and yet in my mind his government was complicit in silencing me.”

The government repeated its offer to support Higgins in pursuing a police investigation. Late last week, she decided to proceed.

Calls for sweeping reforms and cultural change are common following revelations about the abuse of power. However, targeted reforms can produce more effective outcomes than inquiries and reviews. Governance could be improved by establishing an independent, dedicated complaints handling office. The government could introduce mandatory police reporting of incidents and it might consider extending the 2018 ban on sexual relations between ministers and staffers to relations between ministerial staff.

No one should feel safe to prey upon the vulnerable in Parliament House.