She was recognised as 'Australian of the Year in Britain' at a ceremony in London

Calling rape a 'daily crime' she asked for a more 'coherent law of sexual consent'

She emphaissed the importance of taking 'immediate' action if you are harassed

One of Australia's most famous feminists has slammed actresses accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment claiming 'opening their legs' for the disgraced movie producer was 'tantamount to consent'.

Germaine Greer, 78, was named Australian of the Year in Britain during a gala event at Australia House in London - and she didn't hold back in an in-depth interview before the event.

'If you spread your legs because he said "be nice to me and I'll give you a job in a movie" then I'm afraid that's tantamount to consent, and it's too late now to start whingeing about that,' she said.

She did however acknowledge that this does not excuse the predatory actions of high-profile men like Weinstein.

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Germaine Greer, 78 has been named Australian of the Year in Britain during a gala in London

'Spreading your legs [for Harvey Weinstein] to get a job in a movie' is 'tantamount to consent'

Slamming the #MeToo campaign, Ms Greer said: 'I want, I've always wanted, to see women react [to sexual harassment] immediately', emphasising that women facing sexual harassment should take 'direct and immediate action' against their attackers.

Ms Greer lamented that 'in the old days', women weren't afraid to 'slap down' foolish men who leered after them.

'I want women to react here and now. I want the woman on a train who feels a man's hand where it shouldn't be … to be able to say quite clearly, "Stop",' she said.

But she acknowledges that speaking up is far more difficult in the case of Harvey Weinstein, because men like him wield huge economic power.

Ms Greer acknowledges reporting sexual assault is harder when the man has 'economic power'

Dylan (left in 1988, right in 2016) has opened up about being sexually abused by adopted father Woody Allen (left) when she was seven. He was married to wife Mia Farrow at the time.

The famous scholar also took aim at the calls to end Woody Allen's career over renewed allegations that he sexually assaulted his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in 1992, when she was aged seven.

Mia, now 32, described the assault in detail for the first time in an interview with CBS.

'With so much silence being broken by so many brave people against so many high-profile people, I felt it was important to add my story to theirs because it's something I've struggled with for a long time,' Farrow said.

'It was very momentous for me to see this conversation finally carried into a public setting.'

She described being taken to a crawl space by Allen, told to lay on her stomach and play with her brother's toy train set.

'And he sat behind me in the doorway, and as I played with the toy train, I was sexually assaulted,' Farrow said. Her brother Ronan Farrow has long supported his sister's story and has called out the media on failing to publish information about his father's alleged sexual abuse.'

But Ms Greer doesn't believe that the abuse is grounds to halt the famous director's decades-long career.

'It was 20 years ago, so you want [Woody Allen] to stop making movies now?' she asked, and then added: 'It might be a good idea because he's probably no good any more.'

Dylan Farrow, 32, alleged in a CBS interview she was sexually assaulted by her father

Mia's accusation against father Woody (left) has long been supported by brother Ronan (right)

When asked about the #MeToo movement, Ms Greer said that she worries that allegations 'will be taken to pieces' by the lawyers hired by powerful attackers.

She further lamented that the campaign hadn't 'gone far enough in its original aim' to shine a light on the abuse of regular workers by their employers and raising money to take abusers to court.

Ms Greer called out French actress Catherine Deneuve for backing down recently after becoming one of a hundred French women who signed an open letter expressing regret that the #MeToo movement was portraying women as 'powerless victims'.

Most controversially, she called for authorities to ditch the concept of rape as a crime in favour of a 'coherent law of sexual consent'.

'I have seen the police working up a rape case trying desperately hard to build it up so it will stand up in court - and wasting their time,' she explained.'

'The burden of proof is too high and that's because the tariff is too onerous. Rape is a daily crime, it's not spectacular. What we need is a coherent law of sexual assault.'

Ms Greer (left) is 'disappointed' in French actress Catherine Deneuve (right) for backing down after signing a letter expressing regret that the #MeToo campaign portrayed women as victims

Ms Greer previously took aim at transgender women Caitlyn Jenner (right, with ex Kris Jenner)

Mr Greer is also set to release a book titled 'On Rape' - a sequel of sorts to her groundbreaking 2010 work 'On Rage'.

Ms Greer accepted her Australian of the Year in Britain award from not-for-profit charity the Australia Day Foundation, which supports young Australians making their mark in the UK.

The choice was contentious given that she was heavily criticised in 2012 for saying on 'Q&A' that then-Prime Minster Julia Gillard had a 'fat arse' and wore unflattering jackets.

Then-Opposition Leader Tony Abbot got into hot water a week later for saying that Ms Greer was 'right on that subject'. She later defended herself, saying: 'women are fat-arsed creatures'.

She has also come under fire for claiming that trans women were not real women, taking aim at Caitlyn Jenner after learning that she would be named one of Glamour Magazine's women of the year.

'Just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress doesn't make you a f***ing woman,' she said. 'I've asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I'm going to wear a brown coat but that won't turn me into a f***ing cocker spaniel.

'I do understand that some people are born intersex and they deserve support in coming to terms with their gender but it's not the same thing. A man who gets his dick chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.'