AUSTRALIA LAWMAKER CLAIMS PARLIAMENT NOT ‘SAFE PLACE’ FOR WOMEN

Thu 15 June 2023:

Australia’s opposition conservative party has suspended a senator accused of sexually assaulting a fellow lawmaker.

Party leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday that he had met David Van — who has strenuously denied allegations levelled in parliament — and had taken a “decision that he should no longer sit in the Liberal Party party room”.

The party leader’s decision follows Australian lawmaker Lidia Thorpe’s detailed allegations that she had been sexually “assaulted” in parliament, stating the building was “not a safe place” for women to work.

In a tearful Senate address on Thursday, independent Thorpe claimed she was subjected to “sexual comments”, cornered in a stairwell, “inappropriately touched” and “propositioned” by “powerful men”.

Australian lawmaker Lidia Thorpe's detailed allegations that she had been sexually "assaulted" in parliament, stating the building was "not a safe place" for women to work.#LidiaThorpe #Australia #victoria pic.twitter.com/oBaSMnGkdr

— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) June 15, 2023

Thorpe had on Wednesday accused a fellow senator of “sexually assaulting” her, before being forced to withdraw the remark under threat of parliamentary sanction.

But on Thursday, Thorpe restated the core of her allegations against conservative David Van, who has strenuously denied the claims.

Van on Thursday said he was “shattered and battered” by the allegations, telling local media they were “utterly untrue.”

Thorpe had said that while the allegations were protected from Australia’s severe defamation laws, Van had engaged lawyers in the matter and she had to restate her case to navigate parliamentary rules.

Lidia Thorpe claims she was ‘inappropriately touched’ in stairwell. Hear what she had to say! pic.twitter.com/6cgYSlzfBJ

— Clown Down Under 🤡 (@clowndownunder) June 15, 2023

‘I had to be accompanied by someone’

Acknowledging that “sexual assault” meant different things to different people, Thorpe described her experiences in the crucible of Australian democracy.

“What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched,” she said.

“I was afraid to walk out of the office door. I would open the door slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out,” she told lawmakers.

“It was to the degree that I had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building,” she added.

“I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interests of their careers.”

''I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."

Indigenous Australian parliamentarian Lidia Thorpe referred to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who is also Australia's head of state, as a coloniser during her oath of office in the Senate on August 1 pic.twitter.com/aWlefBdt7Y

— TRT World (@trtworld) August 1, 2022

‘Sexist culture’

A 2021 government-backed inquiry found that sexual harassment and bullying were widespread in Australia’s parliament, affecting both lawmakers and staff.

One in three people working in parliament at the time said they “have experienced some form of sexual harassment while working there”.

That included 63 percent of the country’s female parliamentarians.

AUSTRALIA PM APOLOGISES TO ADVISER WHO ALLEGES SHE WAS RAPED IN PARLIAMENT

“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,” said one of the report’s 1,700 interviewees.

The report made 28 recommendations, including a formal statement of acknowledgement by political leaders, targets to increase gender diversity and “a proactive focus on safety and wellbeing”.

Thorpe has previously spoken out against Australia’s police force — saying she was assaulted by officers at a rally in Canberra — and against Britain’s Elizabeth II, calling her a “colonising” queen while taking the oath of office.

-AFP

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