The death was announced of Jill Saward, a campaigner for women who have suffered sexual assault, on 3 January.
A statement released by the family said: ‘Jill dedicated the past 30 years of her life to helping other people. It gives us great comfort to know that our wonderful wife, mother and sister was able to help other people to the very end.’
She was cruelly exposed by The Sun news-paper as the assault victim at the Ealing vicarage in 1986, where her father and boyfriend were tied up. (This unprecedented action became illegal in 1992.) The attack received widespread attention for its brutality and for a comment in the subsequent trial when the judge said the trauma suffered by her ‘had not been so great’.
