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Georgie Purcell, a Victorian Animal Justice MP, has revealed her own troubling encounters with sexual harassment within the parliamentary environment, joining a growing number of women in politics speaking out about their professional ordeals.
At 33, Purcell shared her experiences with fellow upper house members while advocating for a legislative proposal to prohibit non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of workplace sexual harassment.
Reflecting on her early days as a staffer at Spring Street, Purcell recounted her first incident of harassment at the age of 26.
“An individual entered my office for a conversation. As I leaned over to retrieve something from the fridge, he commented, ‘if you do that again, I won’t be responsible for what happens next,’ right there in my member of parliament’s office,” Purcell recalled.
This was just one instance in what Purcell described as a “series of examples” of harassment she faced in parliament, experiences she noted were not confined to the physical boundaries of the building.
”In my experience with someone else in this place, it was the late-night messages, the harassing phone calls, the harassing texts, the bombardment of digital contact, the knocks on our doors when you can’t see who is on the other side, and the demands to meet us under the guise of work,” she said.
Once she reported the harassment, Purcell claims she was slut-shamed by colleagues in the hall, including comments calling her past as a stripper into question.
“What did she expect? Look how she dresses, look at the tattoos, look at her past, you can’t sexually harass a stripper,” Purcell said was the response to her sexual harassment claims.
“I know the slut shaming far too well. Members of this place are not beyond it and we need to reflect on that today.”
Purcell says from the age of 14 she realised sexual harassment would be a feature of her working life, when leering and “ongoing comments” forced her away from customer-facing roles.
When she began a job at a pub aged 18, Purcell says she was groped, pulled onto laps, and received demeaning and sexualised comments.
“Once I was even followed out to my car by a customer, who threatened me after I turned down his advances,” she said.
The crossbencher said she first reported sexual harassment in the workplace at age 20 when she was working in the legal profession.
”It really doesn’t matter how senior or successful you become,” Purcell said.
“Men will always see us as up for grabs.”
During debate on the same legislation earlier this month, lower house MP Natalie Hutchins alleged she was harassed by Essendon Football Club players while working as a waitress in the early 1990s.
“People questioned if that could even be possible,” Purcell said of Hutchins’ claims.
“It creates this false narrative of a perfect victim, that you can only experience or endure this behaviour and, importantly, you can only speak out about this behaviour if you meet a certain, impossible criteria.
“It’s all well and good to remove the gag on survivors of sexual harassment, but we need to start listening when people speak.”
Shadow finance minister Bridget Vallence and Nationals MP Emma Kealy have also publicly detailed experiences with sexual harassment and stalking.
“It really doesn’t matter how senior or successful you become,” Purcell said.
“One thing I have learnt is that men will always see us as up for grabs.”
Purcell’s experiences were detailed under parliamentary privilege.