Former political staffer Brittany Higgins has been “forced” to sell her house in France to defend the defamation case against her, according to reports.
Former Defence Minister Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts that she claims damaged her reputation.
Higgins had relocated to Bergerac in France late last year with husband David Sharaz.
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She has posted images of a cottage with a garden and pool.
”Brittany relocated overseas to heal and escape the online attacks she received, particularly in the wake of the Channel 7 Spotlight program that elevated her rapist,” a spokesperson for Higgins told Guardian Australia.
“Brittany is now forced to sell her home in order to defend herself again.
“The price of speaking out about sexual assault remains unspeakably high.”
Last week a court was told Higgins has less than $10,000 to her name, before Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds succeeded in a bid to access her former political staffer’s multi million dollar trust deed.
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Ahead of an August trial for the case, the senator’s legal team prevailed over Higgins’ legal team in a skirmish to access Higgins’ trust documents.
It was created in late 2022 to hold the proceeds of a $2.4 million financial settlement made with the federal government amid claims she was not supported by Senator Reynolds after Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped her.
Lehrmann denied raping Higgins at Parliament House and that case ended in a mistrial, with prosecutors withdrawing the charge and ruling out a new trial due to concern for Higgins’ mental health.
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Justice Michael Lee in April found to the civil standard that Lehrmann did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Higgins and dismissed his defamation proceedings against Network Ten.
Earlier this month Higgins announced she is pregnant with her first child.
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