The 'wary' #MeToo conversation in Australia

Actress Yael Stone has accused former star Geoffrey Rush of misconduct

On Monday, Australia was shocked by new allegations of sexual misconduct against Geoffrey Rush, one of the country's most famous actors.

Australian actress Yael Stone claimed that Mr. Rush behaved inappropriately in a theatrical production in Sydney in 2010-2011. Mr. Rush, 67, denied his charges.

Stone, 33, said she was afraid to speak for personal and professional reasons, echoing the concerns expressed by many women around the world since the launch of the #MeToo movement last year.

But he also expressed concern that he could face legal consequences, because under Australian defamation laws, people or publications that make accusations are often threatened with prosecution.

Experts say such concerns are one of the main reasons why the #MeToo movement has not taken as much momentum in Australia as in many other countries.

Highly publicized cases

Mr. Rush is currently suing a Sydney newspaper for defamation after publishing charges against him involving another actress, Eryn Jean Norvill. Mr. Rush denies having committed a crime.

Eryn Jean Norvill testified in a defamation lawsuit in Sydney last month

Ms. Norvill did not speak to the newspaper and was not named in her reports, but was publicly identified during the subsequent court battle. Then she agreed to testify in the defamation case.

But, like two other women at the center of the Australian cases of alleged sexual misconduct during the past year, Ms. Norvill never wanted her experience to be publicly known.

Last month, Luke Foley resigned his position as Leader of the Opposition in the state of New South Wales, after being accused of tempting a woman in a bar in 2016.

First they were publicly raised by a political rival with parliamentary privilege, a method that provides additional legal protection.

But the alleged victim Ashleigh Raper, journalist of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, wanted to remain anonymous. It has only been publicly identified with the objective of contributing to the resolution of the "political interest and the permanent means of communication".

"It is clear to me that a woman who is subject to such behavior is often the person who suffers once a complaint is filed," Raper wrote in a statement.

Luke Foley resigned as opposition leader in New South Wales last month

Mr. Foley denies the accusations. He resigned a few hours after Ms. Raper's statement and said he would begin defamation, but then decided not to continue.

In February, a businesswoman, Catherine Marriott, filed a confidential complaint against Barnaby Joyce, a former Australian deputy prime minister, accusing her of sexual harassment.

It then leaked to the media when Joyce had to deal with a political storm about her relationship with a former staff member. Joyce said the accusations were "spurious and defamatory" without prosecution.

In another high-profile case, actor Craig McLachlan is suing two Australian media outlets and a former co-star for filing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Mr. McLachlan, a television star with Home and Away and The Doctor Blake Mysteries, denied the charges of three women.

Effect of silence?

According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, one in three Australian workers has been sexually harassed in the last five years.

But among these workers, less than one in five filed a report or complaint. Experts say that this is due to a multitude of reasons.

"Among other concerns, women may be concerned about the safety of their jobs, becoming the target of community gossip, called" rioters "or" liars, "says Dr. Skye Saunders of the National University of Australia. .

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She says that the #MeToo movement has helped face such challenges. But she also believes that the defamation laws have stifled the Australian conversation.

Australia imposes a legal burden on a person who makes accusations to prove its veracity. This is different from the United States, for example, where the responsibility falls on the defendant to prove that a claim was made maliciously.

"Australian women should be more cautious than our American counterparts, given the overlap of defamation laws and the #MeToo movement," says Dr. Saunders.

Dr. Karen O'Connell, a researcher on discrimination laws, says it is "surprising" that Australia's sexual harassment law has not been applied in the last year.

"Instead, there have been cases of high profile defamation, or other people who have taken the situation of women for their own business, which is really worrying," says Dr. O'Connell. University of Technology of Sydney.

She also believes that the discourse of defamation speeches, the "speech that says", she says, "distorts this public conversation.

"Instead of talking about how to make people feel more comfortable in the workplace, it's more of a story about women who kill men in powerful positions," says Dr. O. Connell.

"And that's not what #MeToo is talking about."