Jill Saward

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the singer of the same name, see Shakatak.

Jill Saward was born in Liverpool on 14th January 1965 and educated at Lady Margaret School.

1 Ealing Vicarage Rape Attack
2 Legal Controversy
3 Rape: My Story
4 Campaigning Work
5 References
6 Books
7 Relatives
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Ealing Vicarage Rape Attack

She hit the headlines on 6th March 1986 when a gang of burglars broke into her home at lunchtime. Her father and boyfriend received fractured skulls and she was raped. The incident received considerable international media coverage because her home was the Ealing Vicarage - her father was the Vicar of Ealing and the attack was soon labeled by the media as The Ealing Vicarage Rape Attack^[1].

[edit] Legal Controversy

Her case received further notoriety when the judge gave those responsible longer sentences for the burglary than for the rape^[2]. The judge caused controversy when he said "the trauma suffered by the victim was not so very great". Upon his retirement the judge, Mr Justice Leonard, publicly apologised for what he called the "one great blemish" on his career.

[edit] Rape: My Story

In 1990, with the help of friend Wendy Green, she wrote a book about her experiences, called: "Rape: My Story" (Bloomsbury/Pan Books)^[3]. At the same time she recorded an Everyman programme for the BBC^[4] with Jenni Murray. It was thought that this was the first time a rape victim had "gone public" to talk about her experiences.

[edit] Campaigning Work

Since 1990 Jill Saward has worked in various guises to support victims of rape and sexual violence. She is involved in personal support of victims and training police officers. She writes for national newspapers, is a broadcasters and campaigns for changes to the way rape victims are treated by the police and legal system.

[edit] References

[edit] Books

- Rape: My Story by Jill Saward ISBN
- The Forgiveness Book by Bob Libby ISBN

[edit] Relatives

She is married to the British journalist Gavin Drake. Her father is the hymnwriter and priest Michael Saward and her brother is the motor racing journalist Joe Saward.

Her great grand father was Captain Henry Kendall notable for being the first person to use radio to capture a criminal (Crippen) and Captain of the RMS Empress of Ireland when it sank.