Can happen to is good to talk’
so viewers have watched him grow up.
“However people feel about him, they’ve already bought into him being part of the establishment.
“To see this individual who is a bit of a Jack the lad and has been a bit of a terror, to see him in an extremely vulnerable situation, is really important.
“What people have to begin to understand is that rape is not about sexuality. Nobody ever talks about sexuality when we talk about female rape, it’s only when we talk about males as victims.
“People think male rape is something to do with gay or effeminate men. It’s important to show it can happen to anyone - that’s the more important message.
“I want viewers to watch this and recognise that it can happen to anybody. I want them to be able to turn to their next-door neighbour and colleague and have a conversation about it. The moment we have a conversation we have broken the silence.”
Over the last decade Survivors Manchester has helped thousands of men through peer-to-peer support, counselling and legal advice.
The organisation currently has 15 staff including six therapists and two Independent Sexual Violence Advisers.
Volunteers and staff, many of whom are survivors themselves, work with males from all walks of life, all sexualities, ethnicities and faiths.
Duncan says: “Some of the staff are survivors ourselves. That often has a huge impact on people.
“Men need to feel connected and not alone. We offer support over the phone or in person. We have a strong belief that victims need time so there is no pressure.”
As well as supporting victims, the charity also provides training to officers from Greater Manchester Police.
And apart from working as a script advisor to Coronation Street writers who worked on the David Platt rape storyline, Duncan has previously worked with Hollyoaks scriptwriters on a similar, award-winning storyline.
“The response was really quite overwhelming,” he says. “We had a significant number of people ringing up in response to the story asking for help.
“With the Coronation Street I met with the producers and asked them what they wanted to do. I didn’t make any commitments until I was sure there was an opportunity to develop the story.
“It sounded as though they wanted to do a much bigger story, not just the experience of that rape, but how did it happen and what happens afterwards.
“The story shows the aftermath, how David is managing and how much the impact of being raped can be felt.” ‘what do you want to do? What can we do to help you?. Do you want to be checked out?’
“If something has happened in the last 72 hours we would encourage people to contact St Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre. They have a crisis team who can check people out.”