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 adviser, who moved to France with her fiancé David Sharaz in December, took to X on Saturday afternoon to issue an explosive 400-word statement five days after Justice Michael Lee handed down its conclusions.
She was 24 when she was raped by her then colleague in Parliament in 2019.
In a surprising twist, Ms Higgins also expressed sympathy for the saga’s toll on her former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds, who launched defamation proceedings against the ex-employee.
‘I was raped. No judgment would ever change this truth,” Ms. Higgins began.
“I lived with shame, humiliation and fear of what telling my story would mean for my life and career, like so many other victim survivors.
Brittany Higgins broke her silence Saturday in a lengthy statement after a judge found she was raped by then-colleague Bruce Lerhmann in 2019.
“I was afraid of not being believed or supported.
“The toxic culture in Parliament was not something I just imagined.
“For decades, women working in Parliament have not been heard. There was no safe space for them to speak out or lodge serious complaints.
“I felt compelled to tell my story.”
Ms Higgins noted that thousands of staff from federal ministers’ offices across the political spectrum participated in the Jenkins review.
“Their stories, like mine, shed light on the conditions that have nurtured such a toxic culture and have been deliberately ignored for too long,” she continued.
Ms Higgins added that her health, memory and relationships have been affected by what happened in 2019.
“I was devastated that a rapist was given a national platform to maintain his lies about what happened,” she wrote.
Ms Higgins thanked Judge Michael Lee for his “trauma-informed” approach to the case.
“In doing so, I hope he has set a precedent for how courts consider the testimony of victim survivors of sexual assault,” she said.
“While I do not agree with all of Judge Lee’s findings, I respect his observations about the many people left scarred and injured as a result of my rape.”
Judge Michael Lee ruled on Tuesday that Bruce Lerhmann (pictured) raped Brittany Higgins, saying he was “determined” to have 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
Ms Higgins acknowledged many people had been unwittingly embroiled in years of media rhetoric and legal battles, as she paid tribute to her family for their incredible support.
“They have been so strong, faced a seemingly incessant barrage of hatred and always held me together in times when I thought I was going to fall apart,” she said.
Ms Higgins also acknowledged the pain caused to her former bosses, Senator Linda Reynolds and former chief of staff Fiona Brown.
“For that, I am also sorry,” she continued.
“My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks following my rape are different from theirs.
“I deeply regret that we have not yet found common ground.
“I hope we can resolve our differences through a better understanding of each other’s experiences.”
Senator Reynolds confirmed this week that she would continue defamation proceedings launched against Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz following comments made about her on social media.
Ms. Higgins ended her two-page statement by looking back on the past five years of criminal and civil trials and government investigations to get her truth heard.
“Now is the time to heal,” she concluded.
CCTV captured Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins drinking together before she was raped at Parliament House.
Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that Bruce Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins, on the balance of probabilities, saying he was “determined” to have sex with his former colleague.
The 28-year-old stood up when Judge Lee adjourned the case, kept his head down and left the court at the first opportunity.
Lehrmann was flanked by his legal team as he left the Federal Court of New South Wales and tried to avoid a crowd of waiting journalists and cameramen.
He remained impassive and silent as he was followed down the street by a cameraman who fell to the sidewalk amid the chaos.
Moments earlier, Lee discovered Lehrmann was “indifferent” to whether Ms Higgins drunkenly consented before raping her on a senator’s couch in Parliament House in March 2019.
The findings were delivered on Monday as Mr Justice Lee handed down judgment in Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
“Mr. Lehrmann raped Ms. Higgins,” he said of the infamous March 2019 night.
Although there was no evidence Lehrmann knew Ms Higgins had not consented to the sexual activity, he was recklessly indifferent to her rights and was “determined” to have sex, the judge said.
Earlier Monday, Judge Lee criticized Lehrmann as an unreliable and dishonest witness.
“Mr. Lehrmann has no qualms about deviating from the truth if he deemed it appropriate,” the judge said.
“I am convinced that, on important points, he lied deliberately.”
The 28-year-old was suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation following a February 2021 report on The Project in which Brittany Higgins claimed he raped her in a Parliament office almost two years previously.
The findings were delivered on Monday as Mr Justice Lee handed down judgment in Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
Judge Lee described Lehrmann and Ms Higgins as “unreliable historians” when recounting what happened that fateful night.
The judge said Ms Higgins had not known the truth about allegations made to Ten in 2021 that members of the then coalition government had sought to silence her by reporting the alleged rape.
“The cover-up allegation was objectively poor in facts but rich in speculation,” he said.
But Justice Lee found 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 had been identified by Ten’s report, despite the network’s denials.
The former Liberal staffer claims his reputation was ruined and is seeking significant damages.
Ten defended his reporting, saying the allegations in the interview were true and in the public interest because they involved alleged sexual abuse in Parliament.
Justice Lee questioned whether, on the balance of probabilities, the alleged sexual assault took place in the office of their boss at the time, Senator Linda Reynolds.
Mr. Lehrmann always denied the sexual assault allegations and the criminal case was dropped in 2022, with no findings made against him.
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