ACT Attorney-General Tara Cheyne reveals she was sexually assault by a stranger, as government debates women's safety

Australia Broadcast Center

6 hours ago

ACT Attorney-General Tara Cheyne has revealed she is a past victim of a sexual assault by a stranger, an incident that still traumatises her.
It comes after a 59-year-old woman was assaulted by a teenager in broad daylight while out running in Bonner, ACT, last month, and another woman was grabbed by a man while running in March.
During a debate in the Legislative Assembly about a motion on women's safety, Ms Cheyne spoke for the first time about the incident that occurred outside of Canberra while she was in her 20s.
"I haven't ever spoken about it."
Ms Cheyne said the incident was incredibly demoralising.
"That is extraordinarily unfair. It has meant I have some unresolved trauma from it because I felt too ashamed to talk to anybody at the time.
"I pushed it out of my memory.
"I don't want to make it about me, but what I'm trying to do is demonstrate [that] women are unsafe everywhere.
"It doesn't matter about the lighting, footpaths, whether you're in the home or somewhere else — all these places, women's lives are at risk."
The Legislative Assembly was debating a motion, brought by Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, calling for the ACT government to roll out new measures to support women's safety.
Mr Emerson said 93 per cent of women respondents to his online poll said they did not feel safe exercising at night in Canberra.
The ACT government's own Gender Sensitive Urban Design Guidelines indicate that better lighting is the most effective way to improve women's sense of safety in public spaces.
"It's really sad that we have to be having these conversations, and there's a lot that needs to happen when it comes to our boys and young men.
"At the same time, there are things we can be doing to make it easier for people to feel safe in public spaces."
Mr Emerson was criticised by members in the assembly for taking the credit for work done by others — particularly women — by bringing the bill to the assembly by himself and for failing to get to the heart of gender-based violence, despite his good intentions.
For Canberran Kim Elms, running has been a key method of socialising and maintaining fitness for more than 20 years.
She said she does "not at all" feel safe running around Canberra.
Ms Elm always tells somewhere where she plans to run, has her partner track her on an app, and tries to always plan runs with friends so that she feels safer.
The group she runs with uses head torches and sometimes phone flashlights to see where they are going and to feel safe.
Ms Elm chooses to run where there are lights in winter, when some of her friends stop running altogether because the path around Lake Burley Griffin is too dark.
While Ms Elm knows lights won't completely fix the problem, she hopes to see them installed, at least around the lake, soon, so more women feel safer.
"This year, there have been a couple of attacks that have really rammed home that we're not safe — even in daylight," she said.