Australian lawmaker Lidia Thorpe accused fellow Senator David Van of sexual assault on Wednesday, before being forced to withdraw her remarks under threat of parliamentary sanction. Thorpe repeated her allegations Thursday, saying she had been afraid to walk through Australia’s halls of power.
“What I experienced was being followed, ag-gressively propositioned and inappropriately touched,” Thorpe said, according to the AFP news agency. “I know there are others that have experi-enced similar things and have not come forward in the interests of their careers.”
AFP quoted her as saying Australia’s parliament was “not a safe place” for women to work. —AFP
