Brittany Higgins has broken her silence with a powerful statement after a judge ruled she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann.
The former Liberal Party media advisor wrote in a lengthy message on Twitter: “I was raped. No trial would ever change this truth.
‘I lived with the shame, humiliation and fear of what telling my story would mean for my life and career, like so many other victim-survivors.
‘I was afraid that they wouldn’t believe me or support me.
‘The toxic culture in Parliament was not something I simply imagined.
‘For decades, women working in Parliament have not been heard. There was no safe space for them to speak out or make serious complaints.
“I felt compelled to tell my story.”
Judge Michael Lee ruled on Monday that Bruce Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins, considering the odds, saying he was “bent” on having sex with his former colleague.
Brittany Higgins (pictured with partner David Sharaz) broke her silence with a powerful statement after a judge ruled she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann.
The 28-year-old stood up when Judge Lee adjourned the matter, kept his head down and ran out of the court at the first opportunity.
Lehrmann was flanked by his legal team as he left the New South Wales Federal Court and struggled to avoid a crowd of waiting reporters and cameramen.
He remained impassive and silent as they followed him down the street and a cameraman was seen falling to the pavement amid the chaos.
Moments earlier, Lee discovered that Lehrmann was “indifferent” to whether the drunk Higgins gave consent or not before raping her on a senator’s couch in Parliament in March 2019.
The findings were issued on Monday as Mr Justice Lee handed down his ruling in Mr Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
“Mr. Lehrmann raped Ms. Higgins,” she said of the infamous night in March 2019.
While there was no evidence that Lehrmann knew that Ms Higgins was not consenting to sexual activity, he was recklessly indifferent to her rights and was “hell-bent” on having sex, the judge said.
Earlier on Monday, Judge Lee criticized Lehrmann for being a dishonest and unreliable witness.
“Mr. Lehrmann has no qualms about departing from the truth if he considers it appropriate,” the judge stated.
“I am convinced that in important respects he told deliberate lies.”
The 28-year-old was suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a February 2021 report on The Project in which Brittany Higgins claimed he raped her in a Parliament office almost two years earlier.
Judge Michael Lee ruled Tuesday that Lerhmann had raped Brittany Higgins, saying he was “bent” on having sex with his former colleague.
The findings were issued on Monday as Mr Justice Lee handed down his ruling in Mr Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
Judge Lee described both Lehrmann and Ms Higgins as “unreliable historians” in recounting what happened that fateful night.
The judge said Ms Higgins had not told the truth regarding allegations made to Ten in 2021 that members of the coalition government at the time had tried to silence her by reporting the alleged rape.
“The cover-up accusation was objectively short on facts but long on speculation,” he said.
But Judge Lee concluded that any incorrect statements made to police in 2019 were not inconsistent with comments made by a “genuine victim of sexual assault.”
Judge Lee said Lehrmann was identified in Ten’s report, despite the network’s denials.
The former Liberal staffer claims his reputation was ruined and is demanding significant compensation.
Ten has defended its reporting, saying the interview claims were true and in the public interest as they involved alleged sexual abuse in Parliament.
Judge Lee considered whether, considering the probabilities, the alleged sexual assault occurred in the office of his then-boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.
Lehrmann always denied the accusation of sexual assault and in 2022 the criminal case was dropped without any conclusion being reached against him.