Louisa Lytton has been left surprised by how quickly she received reaction from EastEnders fans after the soap aired Ruby Allens rape storyline.
[It was] a great reaction, I was quite surprised, she said.
I had loads of people message on social media saying, “this is the closure I needed for so long, this incident happened to me and I questioned if it was rape or not and this episode has confirmed to me in fact it was.”
It was surprising how quickly that reaction happened but thats the whole point of this storyline. Its important to open this conversation for men and women and hopefully educate.
Ultimately were only telling one story but you have to do it justice because there will millions of viewers who will relate and need this as support or confirmation so its important it is done right, added Louisa.
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Viewers have been praising Louisas performance as a bewildered Ruby who was blaming herself and wondering if her own actions led to what happened – and also commending EastEnders for raising the subject of consent.
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Rape Crisis joined Louisa as she appeared on Lorraine on Thursday morning, with spokeswoman Katie Russell praising the show for tackling the topic.
It will be evident as the story unfolds but it is evident with the way the public has received the scene so far that we still have a lot of education and public awareness rising to do when it comes to the issue of consent, she said.
People refer to this as a grey area but its actually quite straight forward in law. We know about fight or flight as responses to terrifying situations, but there is also freeze and flop, which are actually much more common… consent is not just saying no or not fighting back, its actively, positively, freely saying yes, added Katie.
Raising awareness of that so survivors who will inevitably be watching can understand its a common reaction and its not your fault.
It is never the victim or survivors fault, we all have responsibilities in sexual relationships to be 100% confident the person we are with is just as happy with everything happening between us as we are, and remembering that their consent cab been given refused or taken back at any time.
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We need to be aware, consent is a live thing its not something you get once and bank for the future.
You can find information, support and advice by visiting Rape Crisis. 0808 802 999 is the confidential helpline number.
MORE: EastEnders fans heap praise on emotional and important Ruby Allen rape storyline
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