Brittany Higgins has spoken out for the first time since a judge found, on the balance of probabilities, she was sexually assaulted inside Parliament House.
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"I was raped. No judgment was ever going to change this truth," Ms Higgins said in a social media statement posted on Saturday afternoon.
"I lived with the shame, humiliation, and fear of what telling my story would mean for my life and career, like so many other victim survivors."
On Monday, the Federal Court's Justice Michael Lee found, to the civil standard of proof, Bruce Lehrmann raped an unconscious and intoxicated Ms Higgins in March 2019.
The judge said the man was so "hell-bent" on having sex with his then-colleague he was indifferent about her consent.
Mr Lehrmann unsuccessfully sued Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over an interview airing Ms Higgins' sexual assault claim.
"I was devastated that a rapist was given a nationwide platform to maintain his lies about what happened," Ms Higgins said, likely referring to controversial television interviews Ms Lehrmann gave last year.
Ms Higgins gave evidence during a month-long civil trial in November but was not present in court earlier this week to hear the historic decision.
"I was 24 when I was raped in Parliament House," she wrote in her statement.
"It has been five years of criminal and civil trials and government inquiries for the truth to finally be heard. It is now time to heal."
Ms Higgins said she had not "just imagined" the toxic culture inside Parliament House and said the voices of women inside the building had not been heard for decades.
"I felt compelled to tell my story," she wrote.
She also apologised for the hurt her former bosses Senator Linda Reynolds and chief of staff Fiona Brown had suffered since the incident.
The pair have been caught up in the Lehrmann case saga over multiple trials after being accused of mishandling Ms Higgins' allegation.
"My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks after my rape are different from theirs," Ms Higgins wrote.
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"I deeply regret we have not yet found common ground."
Ms Higgins thanked Justice Lee for his trauma-informed approach to the judgment and his recognition that reactions to assaults can vary.
"In doing so, I hope he has set a new precedent for how courts consider the testimonies of victim survivors of sexual assault," she wrote.
The former Liberal staffer said she did not agree entirely with the judge's findings but respected his observations about the hurt suffered by many "in the aftermath of my rape".
- Support is available: Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 6247 2525.
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
