Brittany Higgins has revealed a recent new role dedicated to ending discrimination against women at the United Nations – as the former political activist confirmed rumors that she and fiance David Sharaz recently traveled abroad for an extended trip.
The former Liberal activist shared several photos of herself posing outside the Palais des Nations, the United Nations conference center in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
‘Honored to be an intern at this year’s @United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)’, Ms Higgins wrote.
The photo showed Ms Higgins standing at the front gate of the International Peace Organisation’s headquarters in Switzerland, dressed in various outfits as she attended the three-week conference in May.
Her outfit choices include a baby pink suit and matching blazer with Gucci-style high heels. A similarly designed shoe costs $1000.
The posts are confirmation of long-running whispers that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz had traveled abroad as part of her roles linked to former prime minister Julia Gillard’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.
Ms Higgins is a visiting fellow at the Institute, which operates out of a college in London and the Australian National University.
Brittany Higgins revealed that she recently interned for a convention dedicated to advancing women’s rights at the United Nations.
Ms Higgin shared a series of photos of herself in various outfits outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
The convention Ms Higgins attended – dedicated to eliminating all forms of discrimination against women – ran from May 8 to May 26, the same time Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz left their Gold Coast home.
Ms Higgins, a former Liberal Party activist, came forward in 2021 to accuse her colleague Bruce Lehrman of raping her inside a minister’s office in Parliament House in March 2019.
Mr Lehrman has always vehemently denied the allegations and they have never been proven in court.
His case resulted in a mistrial due to jury misconduct, and prosecutors declined to retry Mr. Lehrman’s case out of concern for Ms. Higgins’ mental health.
Ms Higgins’ UN announcement came as she and Mr Sharaj were spotted on the Gold Coast last weekend.
Lawyers for Senator Linda Reynolds had been trying to locate Mr Sharaz for months.
Senator Reynolds is suing Mr Sharaj in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over five social media posts he uploaded that he alleges are ‘falsely defamatory’.
However, the case has been on hold since January as Ms Reynolds’ lawyers struggled to serve the elusive former journalist with court papers.
In May, rumors swirled that Ms Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz (pictured together) were in Europe on duties related to her role at Julia Gillard’s foundation.
At one point, he is seen chatting with a woman, not believed to be his fiancée Mrs. Higgins, who is carrying a baby on her hip.
Dressed in a casual green sweater and jeans, Mr Sharaj was pictured last Saturday having a take-away coffee at a cafe near the couple’s home.
After the story was published, Mr Sharaz confirmed on Sunday morning that he had given Senator Reynolds’ lawyer his ‘real email address’ and had ‘received services from Senator Reynolds’.
Mr Sharaj and Ms Higgins have been living together in a rented house since March this year, as the former political activist continues her studies at Bond University. Mr Sharaj now describes himself as a ‘reform journalist’.
Their move to Queensland comes after Ms Higgins received a significant payout of up to $3 million from the Commonwealth after seeking compensation for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, disability discrimination, neglect and victimisation.
Mediation with the government is believed to have taken less than a day – which officials defend as entirely appropriate practice.
Earlier last week, Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett revealed his defamation claim against Mr Sharaz had expanded from two tweets by Mr Sharaz to a total of five social media posts.
Mr. Bennett also explained that his office had tried and failed to get a writ on Mr. Sharaz since January this year.
Hours after Mr Bennett’s comments in court, Ms Higgins posted a photo on her Instagram of her lawyer Leon Xueer’s birthday celebration at an upmarket Chinese restaurant in Melbourne with Mr Sharaz.
He then pointed to media reports that Mr Sharaj was living with Ms Higgins in a rental property on the Gold Coast and said it would be impractical to trace his address.
The court heard that his office also contacted Mr Juar following media reports that he was representing Mr Sharaj.
However, Mr Zwier said he had not been instructed to accept the writ on behalf of his ‘client’s fiancee’.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Mr Sharaz was deliberately trying to avoid being served, only that Senator Reynolds’s lawyer had previously been unable to locate him and Ms Higgins’ lawyer had not been advised to accept the writ on Mr Sharaz’s behalf.
Supreme Court Justice Marcus Solomon said he was satisfied it was impractical for Mr Sharaj to serve in person and Mr Bennett’s office allowed the writ to be sent to two personal accounts.
Within 24 hours of sending these emails, Mr. Sharaj will be deemed served.
Mr Sharaj and Ms Higgins have been living together in a rented house on the Gold Coast since March this year, as the former political activist continues her studies at Bond University.
It is understood Mr Sharaj had not received the writ by last Friday morning, but Mr Bennett told Daily Mail Australia his office had emailed it to him following Justice Solomon’s order.
It is also understood that two Gmail addresses belonging to Mr Bennett’s office were not previously monitored by Mr Sharaj.
According to Daily Mail Australia’s writ, Senator Reynolds claims she was defamed in three Twitter posts between January and December last year, an Instagram post in April and a Facebook comment in December.
Mr. Sharaj deactivated his Facebook profile, made his Instagram account private and appears to have recently removed about 2,000 followers.
Senator Reynolds is seeking damages and an injunction against Mr Sharaj from publishing the allegedly defamatory material, and costs.
He is also seeking interest on damages at the rate of six percent from the date of publication to the date of judgment.