Diana E. H. Russell (born 6 November 1938) is a feminist writer and activist. Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, she moved to England in 1957, and then to the United States in 1961. For the past 25 years she has been engaged in research on sexual violence against women and girls. She has written numerous books and articles on rape (including marital rape), femicide, incest, misogynist murders of women, and pornography. For her book The Secret Trauma, she was co-recipient of the 1986 C. Wright Mills Award. She was also the recipient of the 2001 Humanist Heroine Award from the American Humanist Association.
Russell was an organizer of the First International Tribunal on Crimes against Women, in Brussels in March 1976.
Read more about Diana E. H. Russell: Early Years in South Africa, Education in Britain and The United States, Fighting Apartheid in South Africa, Teaching Feminism, Research and Writings On Rape and Sexual Abuse, Organizing The First International Tribunal On Crimes Against Women, Redefining and Politicizing "Femicide"
Famous quotes containing the words diana e, diana and/or russell:
“I don’t have any doubts that there will be a place for progressive white people in this country in the future. I think the paranoia common among white people is very unfounded. I have always organized my life so that I could focus on political work. That’s all I want to do, and that’s all that makes me happy.”
—Hettie V., South African white anti-apartheid activist and feminist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 21, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)
“I always draw a parallel between oppression by the regime and oppression by men. To me it is just the same. I always challenge men on why they react to oppression by the regime, but then they do exactly the same things to women that they criticize the regime for.”
—Sethembile N., South African black anti-apartheid activist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 19, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)
“Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her;
And she, kissing back, could not know
That my kiss was given to her sister,
Folded close under deepening snow.”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)