By Tony Wright
Photo: Justin McManus
WARNING: This story contains content that may be distressing to some readers.
As Victorian MP Fiona Patten walked from the front door of her home at 7.30am two weeks ago, she was confronted by a young man screaming sexist profanities.
The bearded man had been riding his bike past Ms Patten’s home in an inner-city suburb of Melbourne when he saw her, leapt from his bike and began bellowing a stream of invective.
“You’re a f—ing slut,” the man yelled. “You f—ing bitch. You sold us out.”
Ms Patten, leader of the Reason Party in the Victorian Parliament, said she felt threatened, particularly because the incident occurred outside her home and because the man pursued her down the street before eventually riding away, still yelling abuse.
She has been forced to become almost accustomed to receiving a torrent of sexist and sexualised vitriol and even physical threats since she began negotiating last year with Daniel Andrews’ Labor government over extensions to Victoria’s state of emergency, which gives the Chief Health Officer powers to enforce public health orders during the coronavirus pandemic…
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Read the full article on The Age’s website.
