ABSTRACT

Rape was one of the first issues second-wave feminists took into the public sphere in the 1970s. Alongside ‘speak-outs’ in which women gave testimony of their experiences of coercive heterosexuality (Connell and Wilson 1974), innovative responses such as women-only telephone helplines, self-help support groups, reclaim the night marches, and self-defence classes mushroomed (Seith and Kelly 2003), creating new social spaces in which it became possible to speak about rape. This space for action also enabled knowledge creation, with early research and foundational texts (see, for example, Brownmiller 1975; Clark and Lewis 1977) documenting ways in which the legal process denied credibility and dignity to women.