Now that was some story! You Deb, are so much tougher than I could ever have been, but you stuck it out and proved yourself.

This bullying of women persists of course, often in the most subtle of ways...but not subtle enough for us.

As I read this I was reminded of the first female electrician in Canberra. I taught her in year three. She could have been anything she wanted, an engineer, lawyer, doctor, but she elected to be an electrician.

These days she has her own company, PINK, I suspect a deliberately provocative name for a company where she has ten woman employed.No males. I suspect they are a tour de force, and very highly-regarded.

My first few years in Australia, I found myself in the middle of a situation that could have been interpreted as bullying...the boys' club. I should write about it.