Thousands of Australian women march to protest prime minister’s handling of rape scandals

Thousands of women took part in protests across Australia on Monday, demonstrating against Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of rape allegations in the country’s parliament.

Bloomberg reports more than 40 “March 4 Justice” protests took place in cities across Australia, with participants calling for an end to dangerous workplace cultures, misogyny and inequality.

Protesters reportedly taunted Morrison at a rally outside the Australian Parliament House in Canberra.

In February, former government aide Brittany Higgins filed a police report claiming a colleague had raped her in the Parliament two years ago. Higgins said she had pursued charges immediately after the alleged incident, but was pressured to drop them by the ruling Liberal Party.

“We fundamentally recognize the system is broken, the glass ceiling is still in place, and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institutions” Higgins said at the rally on Monday, according to Bloomberg. “If they aren’t committed to addressing these issues in their own offices, what confidence can the women of Australia have that they will be proactive in addressing this issue in the broader community?”

Morrison drew backlash after saying he did not fully understand the seriousness of Higgins’s claims until his wife asked him to picture the same thing happening to one of their daughters.

The Australian government is also facing criticism for not opening an inquiry into claims that Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter had raped a fellow member of the debating team in 1988. Morrison has voiced his support for Porter.

Porter denied the allegations last week saying, “The things that are claimed to have happened did not happen.”

He has refused to resign, saying he does not want to create a precedent in which “any person in Australia can lose their job and their life’s work based on nothing more than an allegation.”

The author of the letter accusing Porter committed suicide in 2020. Porter is on leave for mental health issues, Bloomberg notes.

The news outlet added that a poll published in an Australian newspaper showed that the scandals in Parliament may be negatively affecting Morrison’s Liberal National Party. The survey showed the opposing Labor Party had a 52 to 48 percent lead among respondents. Morrison’s own approval ratings dropped by 4 percentage points.