Women who speak up about sexual abuse and harassment should be supported, not silenced. Unfortunately, Australian laws are failing people who blow the whistle.
On 60 Minutes and 9Fairfax, multiple women spoke about abuse in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including our client Julia Delaforce who shared that in 2010 she was sexually harassed at knifepoint in a NSW military base by a drunken, machete-wielding senior male corporal. She was then instructed by her superiors to drive her assailant home.
Julia complained internally and then to the Australian Human Rights Commission, leading to the Inquiry into the Treatment of Women in the ADF. But the settlement out-of-court silenced Julia from speaking out about her experiences. Subsequently, Julia lost her career and has suffered complex PTSD since.
The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has called out the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, for peddling falsehoods about Mahama'...