A CANBERRA MP has encouraged past and current Labor female staffers to report accounts of sexual abuse against federal parliamentary members.
Member for Fenner Andrew Leigh has made no apologies over urging women to dob in men of his own party amid national headlines of four alleged sexual assault incidents against a one-time Liberal staffer and accusations of rape against Attorney-General Christian Porter.
The call out comes after Liberal senator Sarah Henderson recently referred an accusation of rape to police against an unnamed Labor member of federal parliament.
The sitting Victorian member from Geelong sent an email to federal police on February 28 of information from a woman giving details of the rape allegation.
It’s been more than a decade since Australia’s first and only female leader came to power. In the corridors of power in the capital Canberra, however, it feels there’s been little progress in the march for equality.
Published March 15, 2021
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Today’s Women’s March 4 Justice protests kicked off across the country at midday, with scores of women and male and non-binary allies calling for widespread change in federal parliament.
The protests follow the emergence of high-profile allegations of rape, one against a senior parliamentary staffer by now-former staffer
Rallies have been held in capital cities across Australia today, with thousands taking to the streets to protest against misogyny and violence against women.
The movement has been backed by Indigenous leaders, who have called for mandatory gendered violence and sexual assault training for all federal MPs and their staff, the enactment of a federal Gender Equality Act, and more government funding to combat the issues.
Gunnai-Gunditjmara senator Lidia Thorpe, present at the rally in Canberra, told NITV News that while the marches were a sign of solidarity, to properly stamp out sexist and racist behaviours, white Australia needed to stand in alliance with its Indigenous people.