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Former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps says she was sexually assaulted

Former Liberal cabinet minister Sheila Copps says she was sexually assaulted

A couple of weeks ago, former Liberal MP and cabinet minister Sheila Copps incurred the wrath of the Twitterverse for defending former CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi over sexual assault allegations.

Today, she’s not only backtracking, she’s sharing a very personal story of her own.

I was sexually assaulted by another Member of the Provincial Parliament within a year of my arrival at Queen’s Park at the age of 28,” she wrote in the Hill Times.

"The incident occurred when we exited a hotel elevator after enjoying a group dinner following a day-long session in northern Ontario.

"I pushed back on my assailant, kicking him where it hurts, when he tried to force me up against a wall and kiss me. I never reported him, chalking the incident up to personal misjudgment."

Copps goes on to write that she was also once raped by somebody she knew but didn’t go into any detail about who raped her or under what circumstance.

She did say, however, that police told her it would be “impossible” to get a conviction.

The first incident at Queen’s Park is a consistent account of the flurry of stories that we’ve seen in recent weeks about the culture of harassment that exists in our legislatures and parliament.

Last week, political pundit Ian Capstick alleged that 2 male MPs sexually harassed him several years ago when he was 20-something political staffer.

"I felt powerless," Capstick said, according to CBC News.

"You feel absolutely without power to be able to report somebody who is 30 or 40 years, in some instances, your senior and is perhaps at a status where you just simply as a 21-year-old can’t challenge that person."

Last week, a day after Liberal leader Justin Trudeau suspended two Liberal MPs for an alleged ‘personal misconduct’, NDP MP Megan Leslie spoke to CBC about harassment physical, verbal or otherwise on the Hill.

"It’s a really special place. It’s a glorious place sometimes. But sexual harassment and harassment in general is an issue. Is it worse here? I’ll certainly say it’s different here," she said.

"I do think that we are back in another decade here. It is a strange place."

And at Queen’s Park, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told reporters that she’s had to take action on sexual harassment complaints while serving as Premier.

Experts political and psychological have, over the past week, offered their opinions as to why harassment exists at a seemingly disproportionate degree in our legislatures. Power imbalances, an old-boys club, alcohol, and politicians being away from home are some of the main culprits, they say.

But, in her column, Copps notes something that could be another reason for the culture of harassment: no consequences.

"On Parliament Hill, there are sexual dalliances, affairs, and outright assaults that occur," she writes.

"The difference is that victims in that sanctified workplace do not have the right to go beyond the Hill for due process."