Australian MP alleges she was ‘inappropriately touched’ in Parliament

Sydney, Australia: An Australian lawmaker on Thursday tearfully told the parliament that she had been sexually assaulted in the building.

Lidia Thorpe said she faced ‘sexual comments’ and was ‘inappropriately touched’ after being cornered in a stairwell and was ‘propositioned’ by ‘powerful men’, news agency AFP reported.

She was forced to withdraw her allegations made on Wednesday after facing the threat of ‘parliamentary sanction’, however she ‘restated’ her allegations again on Thursday.

Her charges are targeted against conservative party leader David Van, who denied wrong doing saying that he was ‘shattered and battered’ by the allegations.

His Liberal Party quickly suspended him on Thursday following Thorpe’s allegations.

Thorpe revealed that Van had engaged lawyers to counter her which means a legal battle.

‘What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched,’ she told the parliament.

She shared what it was like to working in the building saying she always stepped out by opening the door to a crack, checking if the area was clear.

When she walked inside the building she always had somebody accompanying her.

‘I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interests of their careers,’ she was quoted as saying.

Allegations of assault and harassment have emerged from parliament building since 2021.

Former political aide Brittany Higgins accused a fellow staffer of raping her ‘on a couch in a cabinet minister’s parliamentary office’ in 2019.

Investigations into the allegations criticised ‘the sexist nature of Australian politics’.

An inquiry in 2021 found sexual harassment and bullying of lawmakers and staff happening widely in the parliament.

The report said that one in three people working in the office suffered some form of assault.