Ruth Hall is a British anti-rape activist and writer. She was a founding member of the group Women Against Rape.

Biography

In the late 1970s, Hall regularly staged protests at what she thought were lenient sentences for

rapists Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person wh ...

. In 1983, she threatened any MPs in the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

who blocked a bill to outlaw

marital rape Marital rape or spousal rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one's spouse without the spouse's consent. The lack of consent is the essential element and doesn't always involve physical violence. Marital rape is considered a form of dome ...

, saying "It takes only the objection of one MP to block a bill. We will be taking note of any MP who blocks it and making sure they live to regret it." In 1981, Hall collated evidence on rape with Judit Kertesz. This was later published as ''The Rapist who Pays the Rent: Evidence Submitted by Women Against Rape, Britain, to the Criminal Law Revision Committee''. In 1985, she published the book ''Ask Any Woman: A London Inquiry into Rape and Sexual Assault''. After the results of a 2005 poll by

Amnesty International UK Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, taken as part of its Violence Against Women campaign, found that more than a quarter of those polled found that in some instances women were responsible or partly responsible for their rape, Hall was interviewed by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' newspaper. She said that "the criminal justice system itself continues to be the obstacle to justice. It continues to display profound

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

. Rape happens every day, everywhere. If the police and prosecutors and judges won't do their jobs properly then we need to give them to those who will." In 2005, Hall also contributed to the development of the

National Institute for Clinical Excellence National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NICE) Clinical Practice Guideline on the management of

Post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

(PTSD) in adults and children in primary and secondary care. When the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government pledged to ban the identification of men accused of rape in 2010, Hall responded that the decision was an "insult" and a backlash against the rising number of rape cases being reported.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Ruth British human rights activists British women human rights activists 20th-century births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British women writers British feminists