An Australian received a summons to court on Friday (August 6th) over a rape case that took place in Parliament, which in March sparked a wave of protests across the country against sexual violence.
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The 26-year-old will have to appear before judges in September for the facts dating back to 2019, as part of a subpoena handed over to his lawyers, police in the capital, Canberra, said in a statement.
"
Police suspect that the man had sex with a woman without her consent in the Parliament building
," the statement said.
A former government employee, Brittany Higgins, claimed in April that she was raped in 2019 by a colleague in a minister's office in Parliament, after a drunken evening with fellow Liberal Party colleagues.
Her testimony was part of a series of several accusations that cast a harsh light on sexism and the place of women in Australian politics.
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the country in mid-March for gender equality, and against violence and sexual harassment. In front of a crowd in Canberra, Brittany Higgins said her story was "
a painful
reminder
to women that this can happen in Parliament, and anywhere else
". "
We note the fact that the system is fundamentally flawed, the glass ceiling still exists and there are serious flaws in the structure of power within our institutions,
" she continued. The accused faces up to 12 years in prison.
