Australian senator condemns sexual harassment by “powerful men” in parliament

an Australian senator Lydia Thorpe reported this Thursday that she sexually harassed her “powerful people” Unidentified men in the corridors and stairwells of Parliament in Canberra, a workplace that has been repeatedly criticized as unsafe for women.

“I have received sexual comments and inappropriate offers from powerful men,” Thorpe sobbed before the Senate, adding that even one of them he cornered her on the landing on the parliament steps in full view of his staff and several colleagues, although he did not identify the alleged attackers. “As all women who have walked the corridors of this building know, it is not a safe place,” added the MP, who asked for increased security in all dark places with low visibility.

Thorpe, who said today he would not report the incidents to the police or take the alleged attackers to court, accused Liberal senator David Van of sexually harassing and assaulting her a day earlier, without giving further details, although he later withdrew the allegations against the chamber, in breach of parliamentary rules. on the appeal procedure.

In response, Van insisted on her innocence, although she admitted today that she moved offices in 2021 after Thorpe complained to then-Liberal Senate President Scott Ryan that she was uncomfortable with Van’s behaviour. Van asked the Senate this Thursday to open an “investigation into these outrageous claims to prove them false.”

Amid the controversy, the leader of the Liberal Party, Peter Dutton, indicated that he had asked Van to stand down, although he stressed that this was unrelated to the allegation made by Thorpe. It is not the first time they have been denounced alleged sexual crimes committed in the Canberra Parliament.

In 2021, former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins reported that in 2019 she was raped by a colleague in one of the ministerial offices inside the legislative headquarters. Although the lawsuit was finally filed late last year, due to the impact of the legal process on Higgins’ mental health, the Australian government apologized to him in front of parliament in February 2022 for failing to ensure his safety.

The official apologies were part of a response to 28 recommendations issued in November 2021 by Gender Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, who led an inquiry into working culture in Parliament.