Jill Saward, rape victim who went public to campaign for other women

Jill Saward, who has died aged 51 following a stroke, was a vicar's daughter who became the first rape victim in the country to waive her legal right to anonymity and went on to campaign for better understanding for victims of rape and sexual violence.

At lunchtime on March 6, 1986 her father, Canon Michael Saward, answered the doorbell at Ealing Vicarage to be confronted by three knife-wielding men in balaclavas high on drink and drugs. Jill and her boyfriend, David Kerr, were watching television.

The men demanded money and "jewels". Finding none, they went on an orgy of violence. Jill, aged 21 and with no sexual experience, was dragged to a bedroom at knifepoint and raped repeatedly and brutally by two of the men before being tied up with a skipping rope. Her father and boyfriend were beaten unconscious, their skulls fractured.

Public outrage erupted at the men's trial at the Old Bailey 11 months later, when, in a statement he later deeply regretted, Mr Justice Leonard opined that Jill Saward's trauma "had not been so great" and gave the defendants tougher sentences for the burglary than for the rape.

The judge had been impressed by Jill Saward's air of resilience. Yet, as she revealed later, her calm demeanour was deceptive. She suffered more than three years of flashbacks and nightmares, came close to suicide on three occasions, separated from her boyfriend and, convinced that she was "on the shelf, soiled goods", made a disastrous marriage.

Her suffering was exacerbated by the fact that, in the aftermath of the attack, several newspapers published details which led her to be easily identifiable as the rape victim.

In 1990, with the help of Wendy Green, Jill Saward wrote Rape: My Story. Her father admitted later that it was only when he read the book that he realised the extent of her trauma. Like the judge in the case, he had been convinced by her outward composure.

Public outrage over the court case led to the law being changed to allow for the right to appeal against lenient sentences and to close a loophole which allowed media identification of a rape victim before a defendant was charged. The case also led to calls by women's groups and politicians too for changes to the law which resulted, among other things, in tougher sentencing for rapists.

Her book helped Jill Saward to objectify her experience and put it to good use. She became involved in personal support of victims and training police officers in how to handle victims of sexual violence.