Duchess praises Archers plot for highlighting domestic abuse
IT BROUGHT the issue of coercive control into the nation’s sitting rooms, with the slow-burning story of Helen and Rob unfolding day by chilling day.
Yesterday, The Archers, the Radio 4 drama, was praised by the Duchess of Cornwall for helping to lift a “shroud of silence” about domestic violence, as she used a Commonwealth forum to speak out against the abuse of women.
The Duchess, a long-term campaigner against domestic violence, delivered a speech ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to call for women suffering
‘Millions of people now have some understanding of what living with coercive behaviour is really like’
abuse to speak out, saying she hoped to see them become “victors not victims” as the “corrosive” shame surrounding abuse begins to fall away.“
Using the example of the “hugely popular radio show” The Archers, as well as Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon, a similar programme in India, she hailed the “new ways and valuable ways of breaking the silence”.
The Duchess told 300 women from the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries at the Commonwealth Women’s Forum: “In the UK, thanks to the hugely popular radio show The Archers millions of people now have some understanding of what living with relentless coercive behaviour is really like.”
A day of activity for the Royal family, saw the Prince of Wales call for an end to the “pernicious disease” of malaria and visit the Science Museum for a celebration of Anglo-indian ties with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle met youth activists, vowing to put gay rights at the forefront of their future campaign work.
The Queen, meanwhile, received Mr Modi and Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, at Buckingham Palace ahead of the official opening of the heads of government meeting today.
The Queen and the Prince of Wales will formally open the event at Buckingham Palace, joined for dinner by all the Commonwealth heads of government and members of the Royal family.