Hollyoaks male rape plot to feature in new police campaign
By Sam Rigby
Hollyoaks
‘ recent male rape storyline is to feature in a new police campaign to raise awareness of sexual violence against men.
Scenes featuring John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) will be included to encourage victims of rape to come forward to report the crime.
The Channel 4 soap aired the hard-hitting scenes last week, as John Paul dealt with the aftermath of being sexually attacked by Finn O’Connor (Keith Rice).
Although Hollyoaks did not feature the attack itself, viewers saw John Paul go to the police to report the attack, before going through the same process as that of a real-life victim.
Scenes from the soap will be used as part of a multi-agency campaign in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland later this month.
“All the partner agencies involved feel that these clips could be of immense value in raising the awareness of male sexual abuse,” a police spokesperson commented.
Dennis Bradley, from the Leicester Gay Bisexual and Transgender Centre, added: “One of the main reasons we chose to support this project is to highlight the taboo nature of male sexual violence even in today’s society. All too often male sex violence is ignored, brushed under the carpet in both the wider, general community and the many communities of newer arrivals.
“[Hollyoaks‘ storyline] is an immensely valuable contribution in the discussing of this highly personal and emotive subject. A gratitude of thanks goes to Hollyoaks for making this topic more openly and frankly discussed.”
Click here to read Attitude’s interview with John Paul actor James Sutton.
Hollyoaks airs tonight and every week night at 6.30pm on Channel 4.