Coronation Street star Harriet Bibby has praised the soap for taking a "different" approach to the serious issue of rape.
In scenes broadcast earlier this month, Aaron (James Craven) - the boyfriend of Bibby's character Summer - jumped into bed with her best friend Amy (Elle Mulvaney) at the end of a night of heavy drinking and much flirtation.
Amy then passed out, while a drunk Aaron proceeded to have sex with her - and the next day, when it finally dawned on her what had happened, she accused him of rape.
In this week's episodes, Amy will finally admit the truth to her friends and family, leaving Summer devastated but standing firmly behind her friend.
"I think a lot of people's initial reaction to this storyline has been 'but Aaron is such a nice guy, he wouldn't do this' and I think that is the whole point, that is why we are doing this storyline with Aaron and why James has taken on this role," said Bibby.
"It's different to some rape storylines because it's not a violent attack, he doesn't believe he's doing anything wrong in that moment and ultimately Aaron is still a nice person, he's just done a horrific thing and he needs to realise that he's done that horrible thing."
She continued: "When we've done rape storylines before they have normally been attacks and I think instances like this where there has been no consent happen far more frequently than anyone would like to imagine.
"I think a lot of young women and young men will have been in situations like this and probably been convinced that nothing bad happened, or it was their friend and they didn't think they were doing anything wrong, or they're made to think that they were both into it and they both wanted it to happen.
"I think it is one of the things that gets brushed under the carpet a lot and it will happen frequently. So I think it is really important to shine a light on consent and say actually, this is not okay."
Coronation Street continues Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
> Picture Spoilers: Next week on Coronation Street (March 27-31)
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