A new crowdfunding campaign has been launched to support a sexual assault survivors’ rights campaigner who could be forced to appear in court after setting up a fundraiser for Brittany Higgins.
Attorneys for Sen. Linda Reynolds have asked to subpoena Saxon Mullins to testify about fundraising during the high-profile defamation battle between Reynolds and her former staffer.
The senator is suing Higgins and her husband David Sharaz in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over social media posts published in 2022 and 2023 that she says damaged her reputation.
Social media posts criticised the senator’s handling of Ms Higgins’s allegation that she had been raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann inside Parliament House in 2019.
Lehrmann faced a criminal trial in 2022 that was dropped due to jury misconduct.
The rape charge was later dropped and he continues to maintain his innocence.
Lehrmann lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April this year when the Federal Court found, based on a preponderance of probabilities, that he had raped Ms Higgins in Parliament.
Ms Mullins created the #Stand With Brittany Higgins fundraising campaign earlier this month and has so far raised more than $51,000 to cover “ongoing medical, legal and counselling costs”.
A new crowdfunding campaign has been set up to support a sexual assault survivor advocate who could be forced to appear in court after setting up a fundraiser for Brittany Higgins (pictured)
Lawyers for Senator Linda Reynolds (pictured) have asked to call Saxon Mullins to testify about fundraising during the high-profile defamation battle.
“After speaking out about her assault, Brittany has been the victim of countless attacks and is now being sued for defamation,” Mullins wrote on social media at the time.
However, the fundraiser has now put the sexual assault survivor advocate in the spotlight after Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett called her to testify in court.
He claimed the fundraiser was “an attempt to distort these proceedings” to focus on Ms Higgins’ alleged rape in 2019.
“(It) is an attempt to say that Senator Reynolds is trying to silence a survivor of sexual assault,” she told the Washington Supreme Court.
The request for Ms Mullins to testify has sparked a second fundraiser, which has been set up ostensibly to help Ms Mullins respond to her unexpected involvement in the defamation battle.
#LetUsSpeak founder Nina Furnell launched the #Support Saxon Mullins campaign on Thursday, saying the advocate has “already been through hell when it comes to the courts in this country” over other matters.
She said Ms Mullins’ legal costs were “piling up” after she hired lawyers to comply with a subpoena to hand over any communications with Ms Higgins about the #Stand With Brittany Higgins fundraiser.
“Saxon has done nothing wrong, has nothing to hide and will be willing to comply if forced to testify in court,” Furnell wrote.
‘But, as with many survivors, her existing trauma associated with the courts and questioning has made this a triggering and distressing episode, opening up old wounds that have caused her pain and injury.’
The crowdfunding campaign aims to raise $10,000 to cover Ms Mullins’ (pictured) legal and advisory costs arising from the defamation suit.
The crowdfunding campaign aims to raise $10,000 to cover Ms Mullins’ legal and advisory costs arising from the defamation suit.
At the time of writing, more than $2,000 had been donated.
Ms. Furnell wrote that the additional funds would cover any additional sexual assault survivors who might be subpoenaed or would make a donation to a sexual assault charity chosen by Ms. Mullins.
Judge Paul Tottle is expected to make his decision on Friday on whether Ms Mullins will be subpoenaed.