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‘I’m really proud to be Brittany Higgins’: former Liberal staffer reveals why she didn’t change her name in new documentary

‘I’m really proud to be Brittany Higgins’: former Liberal staffer reveals why she didn’t change her name in new documentary

Summary

Brittany Higgins, a former Liberal staffer in Australia, shared in a new documentary why she chose not to change her last name after marriage in 2024. The film focuses on her experience of sexual violence, the legal battles that followed, and the impact of media attention on her life and mental health.

Key Facts

  • Brittany Higgins was raped in 2019 by a colleague at Australia’s Parliament House.
  • She revealed the rape publicly in 2021, which led to a trial that was stopped due to juror misconduct.
  • The accused, Bruce Lehrmann, denied the allegations and later lost a defamation case he made against a journalist and a TV network.
  • Higgins chose to keep her last name after marriage to stay proud of her identity.
  • A documentary titled Silenced tells her story and discusses how defamation cases can silence victims and the media.
  • Higgins described court proceedings as stressful and invasive, involving intense scrutiny of her personal records.
  • She struggled with her mental health during the legal cases and even considered suicide.
  • Higgins and her husband moved to France in 2023, but she still faced media harassment there.
  • Lehrmann lost his final legal attempt to overturn the defamation ruling in April 2024.
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