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Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has been talking to us about the upcoming storyline in which Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) is raped by her boss and former childhood friend Craig Reed (Ben Addis) \u2013 and why it was decided that Lydia was the one this should happen to.<\/p>\n
\u2018It came from Lydia being such an anchor in the Dingle family. She\u2019s solid, she works hard, she\u2019s moral, she looks after everyone,\u2019 Laura told us. \u2018Lydia is the glue that holds that family together.\u2019<\/p>\n
With Rape Crisis UK, who worked closely with the show on this storyline, revealing the horrific statistic that one in four women will experience rape or sexual assault, the Emmerdale team wanted to show that, \u2018Rape isn\u2019t something that happens to bad people. We wanted to show the reality that someone like Lydia could sadly be that one in four person,\u2019 Laura explained.<\/p>\n
\u2018When it was first pitched and people around the building heard about it, the reaction\u2019s been the same \u2013 a lot of people going \u201cNo, not Lydia. You can\u2019t do that to lovely Lydia.\u201d So many people have said that to me. I think that made me realise why it\u2019s so important to play it with somebody like Lydia.\u2019<\/p>\n
Laura described how Lydia copes in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which takes place in Craig\u2019s office where she\u2019s recently started work as a cleaner.<\/p>\n