As female supporters of Hillary Clinton come to terms with their dashed hopes for a female US president, Professor Gillian Triggs has said the quality of political debate during the elections would deter women even further from seeking public office.
"There must be a lot of young women who are looking at the nature of the debate in the United States as well as Australia to say, well, frankly I'd rather go off and be a teacher or a doctor, a lawyer, go into public service even, than take on public life in the political arena," she said.
More Life and Style Videos
Gillian Triggs: 'difficult year for women'
The disturbing nature of the US political debate along with the declining position of women in Australia is cause for concern, admits the President of the Human Rights Commission.
In an interview with Fairfax Media's Daily Life on the eve of the US election result, Professor Triggs said the presidential race had painted a "very disturbing" picture in America.
"For many, many women around the world, Hillary Clinton is a beacon for what can be achieved.
"She's clearly made mistakes. But when we see that level of abuse of a woman with quite exceptional experience and characteristics simply on the basis that she's a woman, along with the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr Trump, you start to see the very ugly environment in which women are seeking public office and the sort of things they are going to be subjected to."
Damning in her assessment of the rights and progress of women across the country and beyond, the president of the Human Rights Commission said women had to "speak up" in "challenging times".
Professor Triggs said 2016 has been something of an annus horribilis for Australian women, as their empowerment slips and public abuse climbs.
"I'm afraid my rather sad story is that the position of women in Australia continues to decline and I think we continue to see the abuse of women in the media disproportionately.
![Daily Life's outgoing Woman of the Year, Gillian Triggs.](/web/20161115075951im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/h/3/t/7/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gshdt0.png/1478772674552.jpg)
"I think, frankly, we've got a lot of making up to do."
In a wide-ranging interview to mark the end of her time as Daily Life's outgoing Woman of the Year, "a great fillip and a nice way to end 2015" – Professor Triggs touched upon the Commission's work to address sexual assault on university campuses, international abortion protests and the "unsustainable, illegal and immoral" treatment of refugee children on Nauru and Manus.
But it was the treatment of Australian women, who top the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report in education levels, yet wallow in 42nd, 72nd and 61st places for economic opportunity, health and political empowerment respectively, that Professor Triggs focused on as she looked at the year gone by.
Women in Australia are far less politically empowered than their counterparts in Rwanda, Bangladesh and Timor-Leste according to the paper, which shows that Australia has gone backwards in most categories.
She said that gendered discrimination around superannuation, casualisation of work, board membership, pay gaps and family violence were yet to receive the national attention they truly deserved.
"I think it's time we took these issues seriously in Australia," she said. "These are undeniably challenging times and I think that women really have to speak up consistently."
Professor Triggs was honoured by Fairfax Media in December, when her fearlessness and grace while under relentless fire from an overwhelmingly hostile Abbott government were praised.
Time has done little to quell the attacks. On Monday, she came under fire again when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on the Human Rights Commission to review the way it manages race hate cases after "bringing" a case against three students that was last week thrown out by a Federal Circuit Court judge.
"I suppose," she said, "the lesson I'm learning is this is the nature of the job."
Nominations are now open for Daily Life's 2016 Women of the Year.
"It'll be interesting to see what the public sees as women who have stood out to them," Triggs said.
"I'm still thinking about [my vote] … It's been a difficult year for women in Australia."
Saluting her predecessor, Rosie Batty, who was named Daily Life's Woman of the Year 2014, she said, "I think we're still probably in the shadow of that extraordinary year."