Jill Saward, the inspirational campaigner who helped transform the treatment of sexual assault victims after being brutally raped during a robbery at her father’s vicarage in Ealing, west London, in 1986, has died at the age of 51.

The first victim of sexual assault in the UK to waive the right to anonymity, she led a 30-year campaign credited with transforming public attitudes to sexual crimes and leading to a series of changes to the law.

A devout Christian, she later spoke publicly about her decision to forgive her attackers, even meeting one of the robbers when he came out of prison.

The mother of three – also known by her married name Jill Drake – died in hospital in Wolverhampton on Thursday morning after suffering a rare type of stroke earlier in the week.