Labor MP Stella Crisis has revealed she was threatened with gang rape amid a campaign of sexual harassment after entering student politics at the University of Cambridge.
As she ran for the student council in the mid-1990s, the Walthamstow MP said she had been reprimanded by college authorities instead of taking action against the men involved.
“I’m in my mid-40s now, and this is the first time I’ve really wanted to talk about it,” Crisis told GB News television and former Labor MP Gloria De Piero. “It was horrible at the time, I’m terrified I’ll ever run into these young men again.”
There were numerous allegations of sexism and harassment in Westminster, and up to 56 lawmakers were charged with sexual misconduct. But Crisis, a prominent fighter for women’s rights, including providing mothers with resources to run for parliament, said the culture of “privileges and rights” is not unique to parliament, but a problem in universities. “Men who people are least likely to do are always involved,” she said.
She said she had been sexually harassed “all her life” and was horrified to see the men who threatened her at the university, who she said had become doctors, civil servants and “high-ranking people”. After encountering the men several years after the incident, she said she collapsed on the floor of a bar and left as soon as possible.
Crisis said the abuse would always affect her. She said her first experience of sexual harassment was during her first year at Magdalena College and lasted from 1996 to 1998. She said she included an insulting poster campaign when she ran for president of the college’s student council.
“I will never forget the night I was in the same room with all of them and they threatened to rape me, not to mention the posters they put up around college when I had the audacity to fight for a position in a student union, telling people not to vote for me because of who I slept with, “she said. “And that happened at a college in Cambridge.
“I was detained and warned by the college authorities at the time because they chose to believe I was probably an ‘unjust woman,'” she said. “And, as I say, it took public humiliation, posters, and finally other people who showed up, and I had to compare the evidence – for all the notes, the spitting in my room, the garbage that was thrown at me, sexual violence and harassment if I tried to enter the bar, it came from this group of young men. “
Crisis studied psychology at Cambridge from 1996 to 1999, after which he received a doctorate from the London School of Economics. She joined the Municipality in 2010.
Addressing women with similar experiences and those in parliament, she said: “You will find allies, you will find those of us ready to stand with you, because we know what it is, we know how difficult it is and we know what impact it can have on you. . ”
A Cambridge spokesman said: “We are extremely sorry to hear about the horrific ordeal Stella Crisis went through. Sexual harassment of all kinds has absolutely no place in the university. In recent years, the university has taken significant steps to provide support to victims of sexual violence, improve incident reporting systems and take action as a result.
“We call on anyone who is experiencing any form of harassment or abuse to report it so that they can be offered support and action. The university hires a sexual violence and harassment counselor to provide specialized support to victims. “
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual violence is offered by the following organizations. In the United Kingdom, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support at 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available on 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
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