Karen Andrews
Former Australian Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews said Tuesday that a male colleague used to breathe down her neck while she spoke in parliament, becoming the latest woman to criticize the country’s political culture.
Karen Andrews, a senior conservative lawmaker, stated she was asked, “Can’t you take a joke?” when she brought up the anonymous man’s attitude with others.
The masculine aspect of Australian politics was highlighted in late 2021 when a damning assessment discovered frequent drinking, bullying, and sexual harassment in the country’s corridors of power.
Similar condemnation erupted earlier this year when two MPs from opposing parties accused the same conservative senator of sexual assault.
Andrews, who will retire after the next election, joined the chorus of censure in an interview with Australian network ABC.
“I did have one of my male colleagues who used to breathe on the back of my neck in question time”, Andrews admitted when asked if she had faced harassment in parliament.
“I’d just be sitting there minding my own business and I would have the back of my neck breathed on”, she continued.
She went on to say, “And if I asked a question, it would be: ‘That was a great question, thrusting and probing’… that sort of stuff”.
A wide review published in November 2021 discovered that one in every three individuals working inside Australia’s Parliament House had suffered some form of sexual harassment.
The Australian Human Rights Commission determined that a laddish culture pervaded the facility, fueled by frequent episodes of heavy drinking.
Although Australia has raised the proportion of women sitting in parliament, it has done so at a much slower rate than other countries.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union statistics, Australia had the 15th-highest proportion of women in parliament in 1999.
By 2022, it had dropped to 57th position on the standings.
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