Alison King plays Carla Conor in the soap
Rape Crisis have received a record number of calls this week, in direct response to Coronation Street storyline depicting the rape of character Carla Connor.
The flagship centre in South London, which runs the national helpline for survivors, experienced an 800 per cent rise in calls after the story aired last week.
Extra volunteers have been taken on to deal with the volume of calls. Ten million viewers tuned into the program, which showed Frank Foster rape his wife-to-be after she called off their wedding day before the ceremony.
Rosa Knight, helpline co-ordinator at Rape Crisis South London, prasied the program makers for their accuracy.
"Though other programs have run similar storylines, the response for the Coronation Street stroryline have been like nothing we've experienced before. It is so imporatnt for mainstream shows to tackle these important issues in a well-researched way and it appears the program makkers worked hard to do just that.
"That we have had such a huge increase in calls demonstrates that women who have survived rape do need care and support - but they are not always aware of how to get it. We urge women who cannot get through not to give up. We will work out hardest to ensure your call for support is answered."
Statistics show that women are most likely to suffer rape at the hands of somebody they know. Earlier this week, actor Andrew Lancel, who plays rapist Frank, said the program makers "did their homework" to make sure Carla's storyline was as realistic as possible.
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