Flashbacks to reveal harrowing truths in Amy and Aaron rape story in Corrie

2023-03-03

Coronation Street is set to tackle the issue of non-consensual sex as Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) is raped by Aaron Sandford (James Craven) in an upcoming episode.

The episode will see Amy and Aaron head back to the flat they share after a row with Summer Spellman (Harriet Bibby). When they run out of alcohol, Amy will head into the bedroom on the search for more, but soon decides that she feels sick and no longer wishes to continue the drinking games they had started.

Aaron will continue to kiss Amy, who is unaware of what is going on, and makes the decision that they will have sex.

The next day, a horrified Amy discovers how far things went the previous night, and realises that she was unable to consent to sex and was raped.

As Amy struggles to piece together the previous evening, her memories will come back to her in the form of flashbacks, according to actress Elle Mulvaney.

‘When she wakes up everything is a fog’, she revealed. ‘She’s trying to work out what happened the night before but as she was so drunk and she’s combating a hangover on top of everything else it’s very difficult for her to actually think clearly.

‘She wakes up and she’s looking round her room. She can see the mess she’s created the night before and she’s trying to work out what happened then – because she remembers bits but she can’t quite remember how the mess was made.

Statistics from The Schools Consent Project

1 in 4 women in the UK and many children and men are victims of sex crimes (Rape Crisis)
1 in every 3 three women experience sexual violence during their lifetime. (World Health Organisation)
1 in 3 girls experience unwanted sexual attention in their school corridors (Ofsted)
80% of girls and 55% of boys said unwanted or inappropriate comments of a sexual nature were made a lot or sometimes to them or their peers (Ofsted)
Nearly 90% of girls and 50% of boys said being sent unwanted sexually explicit pictures or videos happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers (Ofsted)
92% of girls and 74% of boys said sexist name-calling happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers (Ofsted)
91% of reported rapes never get charged
2% of reported rapes result in conviction

‘But then she spots her underwear on the floor and looks at the outfit she’s wearing and realises, “actually, I think something deep has gone on here”.’

‘It’s only as she progresses through the day and her memory starts to come back in the form of flashbacks that she starts to try and piece together the night before.’

These flashbacks are something that we viewers will see on screen as the story progresses and Amy pieces together what happened.

In order to portray this story accurately, Coronation Street have worked alongside The Schools Consent Project, a charity established in early 2015 which sends legally trained volunteers into schools to deliver workshops on the legal definition of sexual consent and key sexual offences.

‘We are delighted to have been consulted on this storyline which conveys important messages around the topic of sexual consent with care and sensitivity’, said Monica Bhogal, Director of The Schools Consent Project.

‘Its inclusion in such a wide-reaching show emphasises the crucial need for consent conversations and the power of consent education.’

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