Bill Shorten today confirmed that he was aware of Luke Creasey’s social media post about disbelieving rape victims at the time he held a press conference standing by his candidate for Melbourne.
As Emily Maguire from the Domestic Violence Resource Centre said this week:
“Many women who are sexually assaulted don’t report it to police, and false reports are incredibly rare.”
It’s important that we believe women when they say they have been raped, which is why Mr Creasey’s post can’t be swept under the table.
By refusing to sack his candidate for Melbourne, Bill Shorten revealed a level of tolerance for certain attitudes towards rape and sexual violence that many Australians would consider deeply concerning.
Mr Shorten has not yet explained why he thought it would be appropriate to bring someone with these views about disbelieving rape victims into his caucus.