In a forthcoming plot featuring Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) and Aaron Sandford, Coronation Street will address the problem of non-consensual sex (James Craven).
The ITV soap opera’s March 3 episode will have Amy and Aaron sharing a drunken kiss after arguing with Summer (Harriet Bibby).
Then, when they are in the bedroom, Amy will start to undress, confess that she is sick, and roll away from him.
In spite of this, Aaron keeps kissing her before going farther and choosing to have sex with her.
Amy is fully unconscious of what is going on and will only learn how far things have progressed the next day after horrifiedly realising what has happened when she wakes up.
Viewers will follow Amy’s journey as she wrestles with her emotions and realises that, despite Aaron’s efforts to convince her that they both wanted it, she was raped and couldn’t give her consent.
As Coronation Street tackles the various responses people have to the events of that night and the notion of non-consensual sexual activity, friends, family, and the police will soon become involved.
It is intended that the plot will spark discussions among friends and family members regarding the concerns surrounding young people’s sexual behaviour, such as consent, awareness, respect, and education.
Researchers from Coronation Street have collaborated with The Schools Consent Project, a nonprofit that was founded in early 2015 and sends volunteers with legal training into schools to present workshops on the legal meaning of sexual consent and major sexual offences.
The Schools Consent Project truly believes that education about sexual consent legislation empowers young people by giving them the skills, confidence, and information they need to make safe, respectful, and healthy decisions regarding sexual consent. Bhogal Monica
Iain MacLeod, the show’s producer, emphasised the significance of discussing this subject.
“I have been struck by the number of people who have put their hands up to say they’ve had a similar experience to Amy since we started discussing this topic.
This narrative will be incredibly relatable, and we hope that it will spark crucial conversations regarding consent among our audience.
Elle Mulvaney and James Craven will have the opportunity to display their enormous talents in the narrative, which will also be an engaging, in-depth investigation of how Amy and Aaron deal with what happened that night.
The actress Elle Mulvaney was apprehensive about taking on the role in this story, but she realises how important it is.
As it is such a significant topic, she admitted that she was first anxious to take on the plot because she wanted to make sure it was done correctly.
There are so many various perspectives from the characters, but it was crucial to us that when we portrayed that night, it was obvious that even if Amy doesn’t explicitly state it, she doesn’t agree. The characters were getting closer before the event, but despite the fact that they were friends, we had to emphasise her typical behaviour in the lead-up to the episode to prevent her from acting inconsistently.
“It’s wonderful to be a young actress on the show and to be handed a plot like this because it shows how much faith the crew has in us, which in turn gives us the confidence to handle the tale,” says the young actress. “Amy and Aaron will share a kiss after Aaron has a dispute with Summer.”
It won’t end here either; it will be intriguing to observe how the character changes because this will affect Amy for a very long time. Another thing we want to emphasise with this narrative is the impact it will have on her mental health and welfare moving forward.
