Calls to the national domestic abuse helpline have soared by nearly a fifth in a year, fuelled in part by a hard-hitting storyline about coercive control in The Archers.
Britons have been listening with growing horror as the long-standing character Helen Archer has been psychologically bullied and abused – and perhaps even raped – by her husband Robert Titchener.
The storyline coincides with the introduction of the new coercive controlling behaviour offence, which criminalises extreme psychological and emotional abuse which falls short of physical violence.
Charity chiefs credit an “Archers Effect” with helping to raise awareness that domestic abuse affects all sorts of people, including middle-class independent women in sleepy villages.
Figures released show that 6,774 calls were made to the national domestic abuse helpline in February this year compared with 5,783 in February 2015 – an increase of 17%.
Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Women’s Aid, said: “It is really powerful – I think it will make people stop and think and help women understand what is really happening to them.
Britons have been listening with growing horror as the long-standing character Helen Archer has been psychologically bullied and abused – and perhaps even raped – by her husband Robert Titchener.
The storyline coincides with the introduction of the new coercive controlling behaviour offence, which criminalises extreme psychological and emotional abuse which falls short of physical violence.
Charity chiefs credit an “Archers Effect” with helping to raise awareness that domestic abuse affects all sorts of people, including middle-class independent women in sleepy villages.
Figures released show that 6,774 calls were made to the national domestic abuse helpline in February this year compared with 5,783 in February 2015 – an increase of 17%.
Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Women’s Aid, said: “It is really powerful – I think it will make people stop and think and help women understand what is really happening to them.
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