Morrison promised an investigation into the alleged rape and culture in the country’s political capital, a day after the former employee went to the media with her story.
Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped by a former colleague in the Secretary of Defense’s office after an evening work event in March 2019.
In an interview with Australian Network 10 show ‘The Project’ on Monday, Higgins said she was trying to go home, but the unnamed colleague insisted they take a taxi to Parliament House to ‘pick up something ‘where she passed out on a couch. .
She told “The Project” that she woke up to find her coworker on top of her “mid-rape,” and when she repeatedly asked him to stop, he didn’t. Higgins has not publicly identified her alleged rapist.
Higgins said she spoke with the police in early April 2019, but decided not to file a formal complaint out of concerns about her career prospects. “It’s just not the right decision for me personally, especially in light of the demands of my workplace,” she wrote, according to Australian news.com.au. Police in Canberra confirmed to Reuters that they had spoken to a complainant in April 2019, but chose not to file a formal complaint.
After Higgins told senior staff in Reynolds’s office about the alleged attack, she said in the interview that she was subsequently asked to attend a meeting in the office where she says she was attacked.
Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds told Parliament on Monday that she did not know the substance of the allegations when she called the meeting with her staff member, and “if I had known, I would have conducted the meeting elsewhere.”
“That shouldn’t have happened, and I apologize,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. “I want to make sure every young woman who works in this place is as safe as possible.”
According to Morrison, the prime minister and cabinet official Stephanie Foster will investigate how complaints are dealt with in the workplace in parliament. There will also be a separate study into workplace culture.
In a statement to CNN, Higgins said she came forward “because I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.”
While thanking Morrison for his apologies, Higgins said the prime minister’s announcement of an investigation into Parliament House culture “should have been long overdue.”
“It should not have aired my story, or the story of other victims of victims, on national television for the Prime Minister – or any other Member of Parliament – to take action against sexual harassment, assault or bullying at work,” she said in a statement. the explanation.
Higgins’s allegations are the latest in a string of allegations by female members of the ruling Liberal Party, who pressured Morrison to take steps to improve the government’s work culture.
Last year, a former Liberal Party employee accused then immigration minister Alan Tudge of inappropriate behavior, which he denies.
In her statement, Higgins called on Parliament to establish an independent reporting mechanism that allows complaints to be submitted confidentially.
Finally, everyone should feel safe to report sexual assault without fear of losing their job. These incidents should not be in the media for change to happen, she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Hilary Whiteman.