Corrie comes under fire over Tracy Barlow plot

Coronation Street has come under fire after Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) pretended to be suffering from domestic violence.

Tracy gave off the false impression about her relationship with builder Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward) before bludgeoning him to death in revenge for his affair with Maria earlier this month.

“Domestic violence shatters the lives of victims and their children and no woman chooses to be abused. The suggestion that someone would lie and manipulate to portray themselves as a victim of domestic violence is a complete failure to understand how devastating abuse can be.

 

“More crucially, the current storyline undermines every woman who seeks help and support from those within her community. If a woman asking for help is met with incredulity, accusations of having skewed the truth or even that the abuse is fictional, then that woman may never ask for help again.” – Annie Campbell on behalf of Northern Ireland’s Women’s Aid group

However, the ITV soap has hit back at the criticism, explaining that they hadn’t set out to educate viewers about violence within relationships.