The week Brittany Higgins reported that she was raped in Parliament House - Lifeline received a record spike in the number of calls for help. Same for Rape and Domestic Violence hotlines.

University rape crisis centres were inundated with contact from survivors when the Christian Porter story broke and ever since. A rape crisis volunteer interviewed by The Guardian reported that every survivor she knew was spiralling.

And it's been the same amongst the women I know. One unable to sleep. Flashbacks of past traumas. Another goes from crying to rage.

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Some are just tired to their bones. What again!! Still?? We are still having this fight?

How much more do we have to know about the effects of rape, of abuse - and the further abuse by silencing and not believing and doing nothing to protect victims. But protecting perpetrators?

And still we play this whole ordeal out publicly over and over retraumatizing victims unthinkingly.

And making women fear that the bad old days are in fact still here.

When we hear that a young staffer reports that she has been raped in a federal ministers office - in our top law making institution - and none of the ministers or staffer she told reported it to tells the boss it reinforces all our worst fears.

They won't care. They don't care.

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They don't even have a procedure for sexual assault in our actual law-making institution.

And when the boss our PM - is faced with evidence from a 4 Corners investigation of sexist and inappropriate behaviour of a Minister and grooming and molesting of young trainees from a staffer he just dismisses it as trivial Canberra bubble stuff. Does this strange bubble protect perpetrators but not victims?

And when Morrison refused to hold an independent inquiry into whether CP is a fit and proper person to hold the highest legal position in Australia and believes him without even bothering to read the victim's account it's no wonder people are calling Lifeline.

And when our PM had to ask his wife how to react to rape - well yeah the dark ages are still bloody here.

And all our suspicions are proven right when our PM states his views that women's achievements must not be at the expense of others.

He means him and his mates. He says this on International Women's Day. That's as women friendly as he gets.

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And just a few days ago in The Australian - two journalists decided to publish excerpts of the private diary of Kate (the woman who suicided after dropping her complaint against Christian Porter)- the diary of a woman in therapy expressing her pain and horror in the most intimate and raw way - and they used her pain and her trauma as evidence against her.

She's crazy.

Don't believe her.

Rape is about power and it is especially poignant when it happens in the halls of power. Rape has long been used as a weapon of terror against women. Both in war and at home. It is both a terror strategy and a reward in the spoils of war. Women are totally dehumanised in the process of demonstrating who's in charge and who's entitled to take whatever they want.

Scott Morrison has no idea what's at stake here for us and our sense of equality, or safety or the recognition of our humanity. He has no idea what he has unleashed. How dare they dismiss us like this???

They are not entitled to our bodies. We are not the spoils of war.

They are not in charge. The big swinging dicks have got to go!

So what do we do? The solutions are always the personal and the political and they affect each other.

Yes, learning what consent is crucial but unless men see women as equals, as deserving the same power and rights as they have - then no one will care about consent.

They won't get it. In their bones

And people have to stop asking: Why didn't she go to the police? If you don't know the answer to that you just haven't been paying attention.

And you have to listen to women. Really listen. And stop calling us liars. If anything we lie to protect you.

I'm talking to the swinging dicks here. Ask anyone who has been sexually abused or assaulted.

And those like Brittiany who do speak up are heroes. Warriors. But we shouldn't have to be warriors to say someone has hurt us. Those who hear it should be opening up their hearts not their getting out their knives. Except for the criminal who did this. Not to victim!

As for the political - firstly attacking women in the parliament is extremely impactful. As a terror weapon it beats into our minds - is it our place? Does power even belong to us? Does it drive us out?

And you know what's most likely to ensure there are procedures in place that actually investigate rape - is when half the parliamentarians are women.

You know how I know this? One historic example When Lillian Fowler - the first Deputy Mayor of a Council was elected - she lobbied for child care, for the widows pension, child endowment, baby clinics - things that up till then the blokes hadn't thought of.

We need women in power because we are affected differently from certain policies and we freaking matter.

Today we take back our power and tell the swinging dicks we have had a gutful.

Enough is freaking bloody enough.

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