I caught BBC breakfast this morning and heard an amazing story of a truly inspirational woman called Shirley Woodman MBE who 24 years ago was attacked by a serial rapist who damaged the lives of several women. Despite being given life in prison 15 years later he was out on remand bought a lottery ticket and won £7 million.

Horrified by this news Mrs Woodman decided to take him to court for damages.

This is where the story of her inspiration starts. Because of the law at the time statues of limitations stated that you had to take someone to court within 6 years of a sexual assault taking place, as 15 years had passed she really had no legal redress. In her late-70s by this time and with the support of her daughter, the Police and a journalist she decided to take on the law and won!

That was back in 2008 and now the law on sexual attack compensation allows for the time limit to be extended in the case of serious assault.

At the time of taking on the law Mrs Woodman was told she had a 99 to 1% chance she would lose. Even with a 1% chance of winning she decided it was worth going after.

When asked whether she considered this something that would be too stressful to take on (she was in her late-70s after all) Shirley said

Throughout life we set ourselves little challenges and they can be simple, just things along the way, and we go along and when we succeeded the feelings of success is sort of minor. But if you choose to try to change the impossible, which is what we were trying to do and if you do achieve it the success is so great, particularly at this stage, at late in my life. Because we managed to change the law, because we changed the statue of limitations, it has empowered so many people and I feel proud that I have been able to do this for other people.
Mrs Shirley Woodman MBE

The amount of compensation she received was not disclosed and Mrs Woodman gave all the money away anonymously to charity so they won’t even know it was from her.

It was her daughter who applied for Shirley to receive the MBE without her knowledge. During the trial and even while fighting the law Shirley had kept her identity a secret being known only as Mrs A – a legal choice that victims of abuse have to protect their identity. Her daughter felt that her mother should be recognised for what she had achieved while she was still alive so encouraged her to waive her right to anonymity, which she agreed to do.

I am so happy that Mrs Shirley Woodman MBE gave up that right and is now talking about her experience and her journey. It was a brave one and she deserves the recognition and being awarded an MBE in the 2012 Queen’s New Year Honours for services to the community in Yorkshire.

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