Sarah Hanson-Young takes David Leyonhjelm to court

A crude attack on Sarah Hanson-Young is about to land sexist Senator David Leyonhjelm in court, reports contributing editor-at-large Tess Lawrence.

THE STOUSH about David Leyonhjelm's sexist and defamatory remarks to Sarah Hanson-Young will now be fought out in court.

In a brief press release issued earlier yesterday afternoon, 12 July, Senator Hanson-Young's electorate officer Eloise Wittkowsky confirmed that, after much thought and advice, legal action would be taken against Senator Leyonhjelm for the comments he

'... yelled out to Sarah in the Senate Chamber, and the harmful comments he made in the media that followed.'

Independent Australia wrote about the matter under the headline 'Shame on slut-shamer Leyonhjelm'.

The statement confirms that 'Sarah is taking this stand for all the women who block out the comments, ignore the invasion of personal space, who hope that if they ignore it, it will go away. Things must change.'

It continues:

When David Leyonhjelm began his attacks on Sarah in the Senate Chamber, we were overwhelmed by the caring response from the community. Sarah’s resolve to make a stand was galvanised because she knew this wasn’t just about sexist comments and innuendo directed at her. No woman deserves to be disrespected, harassed, and bullied in the workplace, in the street, or in their own homes.

David Leyonhjelm has consistently refused to apologise, purely because he believes there is nothing wrong with the comments he made.

Since the last day of Parliament's session (June 24), when Lyonhjelm made his admitted comments to Hanson-Young to “stop shagging men” there has been widespread discussion, debate and argument about verbal, mental and physical abuse towards women in the wider community, as well as discussion on the continuing invective, insult and injury by politicians towards female colleagues and parliamentary staff — and not all of it spewed by men, as our article on Michaelia Cash indicates.

"You should stop shagging men, Sarah...."@sarahinthesen8 said @DavidLeyonhjelm has refused to apologise for this sexist slur, instead telling her to "f*** off". pic.twitter.com/2sUUvqne2h
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) June 28, 2018

Wittkowsky asserts:

We have a strong case, and there is so much determination in the community to keep fighting. Making sure women are respected, whether it be in their homes, in their workplaces, or in the corridors and chambers of Parliament House, is something we can all be a part of.

When Sarah decided to speak out, and draw a line in the sand under the sexism she has experienced in the workplace, the Parliament of Australia, Sarah knew it would change things for her. As a result, women around the country have shared their experiences of sexism and intimidation in their own workplaces. For women everywhere, from the factory floor, to the hospitality industry, to flight attendants, this fight is for you.

A crowdfunding campaign has been set up thanks to Emeritus Professor Simon Chapman AO and author Jane Caro, to help cover legal costs.

In the event the case is upheld, all compensation, and funds raised, will be donated to Plan International and Working Women’s Centre SA.

Sarah Hanson-Young crowdfunds to cover defamation action against David Leyonhjelm https://t.co/hCtOSG7TN9 #auspol #greens pic.twitter.com/JbsyRaeEZI
— ABC Adelaide (@abcadelaide) July 9, 2018

It should be noted that Professor Simon Chapman, a much awarded academic and tobacco control activist whose Sydney University curriculum vitae was updated yesterday, was a member of the Coalition for Gun Control.

Thus he is in the opposite spectrum to gun advocate Senator Leyonhjelm.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License