Jump to content

Jill Saward

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cloptonson (talk | contribs) at 20:44, 6 January 2017 (→Campaigning work: added article link). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For the Shakatak singer of the same name, see Jill Saward (singer).

Jill Saward
Born(1965-01-15)15 January 1965
Liverpool, England
Died5 January 2017(2017-01-05) (aged 51)
Wolverhampton, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Campaigner on sexual violence, author, political candidate
Known forVictim of "Ealing vicarage rape"
Political partyIndependent
Spouse(s)
Gavin Drake
​
​
(m. 1993; "her death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2017)​
ParentMichael Saward
RelativesJoe Saward (brother)
Henry George Kendall (great grandfather)
Websitewww.saward.org

Jill Saward (14 January 1965 – 5 January 2017)[1] was an English campaigner on issues relating to sexual violence. She was the victim of the 1986 Ealing vicarage rape, a crime for which the sentencing scandalised the UK and led indirectly to changes in the law.

Family and education

Saward was educated at Lady Margaret School in southwest London.[2][better source needed] Her father, Reverend Michael Saward, became the vicar of St Mary's, Ealing, in 1978.[3] She married Gavin Drake, and the couple lived in Hednesford, Staffordshire, with their three sons.[1]

Ealing vicarage rape

Violent assault

On 6 March 1986, a gang of burglars broke into the Saward family's home at lunchtime. Jill's father and her then-boyfriend, David Kerr, were tied up and beaten, both suffering fractured skulls, while she was raped.[4][5][6] The incident received considerable international media coverage because the house was identifiable as that of the vicar of Ealing, and the attack was soon labelled by the media as the "Ealing vicarage rape".[4][7] Saward was identified as the victim of the attack by a national newspaper four days later.[7]

The trial

At the trial of the perpetrators in 1987, the judge, Sir John Leonard, gave those responsible longer sentences for the burglary than for the rape, after saying, "Because I have been told the trauma suffered by the victim was not so great I shall take a lenient course with you".[8] The leader of the three men, Robert Horscroft, who was not involved in the rape, received 14 years' imprisonment for burglary and assault. Martin McCall, the more violent of the two attackers, was sentenced to five years for rape and five years for aggravated burglary, while Christopher Byrne received three years for rape and five years for burglary and assault.[4]

The insufficient sentence was criticised by senior British politicians of the time, including then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Labour leader Neil Kinnock, while others complained property was being valued more highly than a woman's body.[9][10][11] Saward too complained about the sentences; in 1988, as a result of this case, a new law was passed that allowed appeals against unduly lenient sentences, and also closed a loophole that had previously only granted rape victims anonymity after a suspect was charged with the offence.[9][11] Criminologist Anthony Bottoms described the case as "a particularly striking example of some fault lines deeply embedded within the institutional structures of the English sentencing processes" of the time.[12]

On his retirement in November 1993, Leonard publicly apologised to Saward.[8] His judgment at the trial he called a "blemish – I make no bones about it".[9][10]

Subsequent developments

In 1990, with the help of friend Wendy Green, Saward wrote a book about her experiences, called Rape: My Story. At the same time she featured in an Everyman programme for the BBC with Jenni Murray.[13] In doing so, she became the first UK rape victim to waive her right to anonymity.[1][10] The documentary was used to educate judges about the trauma suffered by rape victims.[14]

Saward told Elizabeth Grice in an interview for The Daily Telegraph in 2006: "Of course, sometimes I thought it might be quite nice to be full of hatred and revenge. But I think it creates a barrier and you're the one who gets damaged in the end. So, although it makes you vulnerable, forgiving is actually a release. I don't think I'd be here today without my Christian faith. That's what got me through".[4]

Campaigning work

In 1988 she moved from London into the West Midlands where she initially worked as a teaching assistant at a school in Birmingham.[15] From 1990 until her death, Saward worked in various roles to support victims of rape and sexual violence. In 1994, she set up a support group for rape victims and their families,[1] and also helped to campaign for a change in the law that prevented people accused of rape from cross-examining their alleged victims.[16] In a Channel 5 interview and a Daily Mail article, she argued in June 1997 that men in date rape cases should be tried of a lesser offence, and that the way women dress is a potential provocation that should affect the offence for which men are charged. "I do [not] suggest the hypothetical victim is culpable," she commented, "only that she did nothing to help herself". Feminists responded negatively.[17]

In 2009, she campaigned against a European Court of Justice ruling that DNA of people cleared of crimes must be deleted from the DNA Database after six years, or 12 years for serious crimes.[18] In 2015, she spoke out against a proposal for rape suspects to remain anonymous until they are charged, describing it as "really insulting to victims and a really disappointing move"[19] and sending a "damaging message" when it was proposed as part of the coalition agreement for the 2010 Parliament.[20] In 2016, Saward criticised the Crown Prosecution Service's dealing with rape cases, saying that "I think the issues a lot of people have is the length of time it takes the CPS to get a case to court."[21]

Politics

Saward stood against David Davis in the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election. She criticised Davis for "saying nothing at all" about sexual violence issues while serving as Shadow Home Secretary; and stated that the DNA Database should be extended to help detection of sexual assault.[22][23][24] In her view, there was a disparity between the "thousands" of people affected by sexual assault each year, compared to the detention proposals of the Counter-Terrorism Bill "which may not affect anybody at all" and felt that "somebody needs to get the issue of rape on to the agenda".[22][23]

On the issue of detaining suspects for up to 42 days, she told Julie Bindel: "If the police say they need more time to work on these cases, then I support them". Asked about the effects on the Asian community: "It will target people who are seen to be a threat to our nation's freedom. At the moment, that might be some Muslim men, 10 years ago it was the IRA – so people with Irish accents were the target – and soon it could be Mugabe's men".[7]

In the by-election Saward won 492 votes (2.1%).[25][26][27][28]

Death

Jill Saward died on 5 January 2017 in New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, following a subarachnoid hemorrhage two days earlier.[6][10]

Publications

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Rape.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ealing vicarage rape victim Jill Saward dies". BBC News. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Jill Saward". LinkedIn. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Canon Michael Saward, clergyman – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Grice, Elizabeth (8 March 2006). "'It's not whether you can or can't forgive; it's whether you will or won't'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Why I am the real victim of the Ealing vicarage rape", Daily Mail, 3 August 1998
  6. ^ a b "Jill Saward, Ealing vicarage rape victim, dies aged 51". The Scotsman. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Bindel, Julie (1 July 2008). "A rape campaigner runs for office". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b "John Leonard". The Herald. Glasgow. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b c "Sir John Leonard". The Daily Telegraph. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d Sherwood, Harriet (5 January 2017). "Jill Saward, campaigner against sexual violence, dies aged 51". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  11. ^ a b Wilson, Cherry (5 January 2017). "Jill Saward: How Ealing vicarage case changed treatment of rape victims". BBC News. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  12. ^ Bottoms, Anthony (2010). "The 'duty to understand': what consequences for victim participation?". In Bottoms, Anthony; Roberts, Julian (eds.). Hearing the Victim: Adversarial Justice, Crime Victims and the State. Routledge. p. 23.
  13. ^ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/?view=synopsis[dead link]
  14. ^ Billen, Andrew (2002). "The Injudiciary". In Jewkes, Yvonne; Letherby, Gayle (eds.). Criminology: A Reader. Sage. p. 317. Originally published in The Observer Magazine, 13 December 1992.
  15. ^ "Victim who found cause through evil, Courage of woman who launched campaign after attack". Shropshire Star. 6 January 2017. p. 6.Report by Mark Andrews.
  16. ^ Burnip, Laura (5 January 2017). "RIP BRAVE JILL Who was Jill Saward? Vicarage rape woman who waived anonymity – here's what we know". The Scottish Sun. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  17. ^ Cooper, Glenda (18 June 1997). "The way you dress, the way you walk". The Independent. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  18. ^ "Time limits on innocent DNA data". BBC News. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  19. ^ Prince, Rosa (20 March 2015). "Ealing Vicarage rape victim Jill Saward says rape suspects must be named". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  20. ^ Gibb, Frances; Ford, Richard (12 November 2010). "Anonymity for rape suspects scrapped". The Times. Retrieved 5 January 2017. (subscription required)
  21. ^ Williams, Rebecca (2 February 2016). "Care For Rape Victims Falling 'Well Short'". Sky News. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  22. ^ a b "Rape victim to challenge Davis". Politics. 27 June 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  23. ^ a b Sparrow, Andrew (26 June 2008). "Rape law campaigner to stand against Davis". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  24. ^ Saward, Jill (1 July 2008). "Why I am standing against David Davis". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Rape campaigner by-election bid". BBC News. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  26. ^ "Campaigners set to fight Davis by-election". Yorkshire Post. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  27. ^ "Icke and Saward may contest by-election". East Anglia Daily Times. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  28. ^ "Latest by-election contenders revealed". Driffield Times and Post. 25 June 2008. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jill_Saward&oldid=758666644"