It is a sick and ancient truth that the unwanted sexual attention of powerful men can be extremely dangerous for women.

First, the physical approach. Second, the subsequent attack. Think of Medusa. She was a beautiful maiden, once. But we forget her story, the origins of her myth. We remember she could turn men to stone with her rage, that she was monstrous and ugly and to be feared. We forget that as a young woman she was raped in the temple of Athena, by the god of the sea, Poseidon. And for this, she was cursed. Punished for being a victim.

ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper and former Labor state leader Luke Foley. Credit:Fairfax Media

Which brings me to the events of this week. There have been few days I can remember when I have seen so many women suddenly burn with a kind of cold fury and disgust. But Thursday was one.

A woman, who kept a silence for two years about what she says was unwanted sexual touching from a political leader, who thanked the colleague who witnessed the event for keeping it quiet, who was unwillingly dragged into a dispute by male politicians using her as a pawn, finally spoke. And it was shattering. Her eloquence, her reluctance, her dignity, her resistance to being kicked about in a game amongst powerful men were striking. Then she was called a liar.

"This is a position I never wanted to be in and a statement I never intended to make,” ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper said. “But I think the time has come for my voice to be heard." After multiple public denials from Labor MP Luke Foley and two phone calls from him, in which she says he broke a promise to resign, she said she decided to speak, given the "escalation of the public debate, including in State and Federal Parliament despite my expressed wish to neither comment nor complain, and the likelihood of ongoing media and political interest."