KEY POINTS:
- Rape crisis centre says media outlet sought information on Brittany Higgins.
- Its executive believes the unnamed outlet was seeking to shame Ms Higgins.
- It comes days after Bruce Lehrmann's first television interview was aired.
A rape crisis centre says a media outlet asked it for information on Brittany Higgins, and claims the outlet was trying to shame the former Liberal staffer.
But Canberra Rape Crisis Centre chief executive Chrystina Stanford says the centre wanted "no part" of the unnamed organisation's attempts to involve it in "the circus" surrounding Ms Higgins' rape allegation.
Ms Higgins accused former colleague Bruce Lehrmann of raping her inside Parliament House in 2019, when the pair worked for then-defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and strenuously denied the allegation. last year over jury misconduct without making any findings against him.
On Tuesday, days after Mr Lehrmann's , Ms Stanford said the centre had recently been contacted by a media outlet and asked to confirm details relating to Ms Higgins.
Bruce Lehrmann has always denied the allegation. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"These are not positive experiences for us, as we were contacted in an attempt to ... criticise a young person publicly, to tear at her story, her life and her pain.
"The media wanted us to join the circus, we wanted no part of it."
The centre works to provide sexual assault survivors and their supporters "direct relief through the provision of aid services".
Ms Stanford did not name the media outlet, nor the timing of its alleged approach.
"Survivors of sexual violence are the people in front of you, those you work with, friends and family – you just may not know it," she wrote.
"When they see the headlines, read the stories, it tells them to stay silent. We know that does not work, we know it causes further harm. We can be better than this!"
Ms Higgins' allegations have been widely publicised since early 2020, as has a subsequent review of ACT Police's investigation of her claims against Mr Lehrmann, which started shortly after the trial was aborted.
But Ms Stanford urged the media to cover the prevalence of sexual violence in Australia, including its disproportionate impact on Indigenous people.
"That is the right story, the real story, the one with concern, compassion and humanity. Let's try for that story!" she wrote.
Mr Lehrmann settled a defamation claim with News Corp and its Walkley Award-winning political journalist Samantha Maiden last month.
He has ongoing defamation claims against Channel 10, which aired an interview with Ms Higgins on The Project in 2020, and the ABC.
In his first TV interview, Mr Lehrmann denied the pair had any sexual contact and said he watched the Channel 10 interview with "utter outrage".
"Straight away it was like a nuclear bomb going off or your world exploding," he said.
In 2021, Ms Higgins announced that she would donate half of the profits from her memoir to the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. The book was put on hold after the criminal trial was aborted.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit . In an emergency, call 000.
