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Sex Education: Why Aimee's Sexual Assault Story Is So Important

Sex Education: Why Aimee's Sexual Assault Story Is So Important

The third season of Sex Education has been highly praised for addressing Aimee's sexual assault trauma.

Sex Education doesn't shy away from difficult topics, and it has been rightly praised for this.

In season two of the Netflix hit, women around the world related to sweet and scatterbrained Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), after harrowing scenes showed her being sexually assaulted on a bus to school, and highlighted her trauma thereafter.

But as many of us know, the after affect of sexual assault can be equally crippling and debilitating - and that's what season three of the high-school drama shows.

While many shows may have considered Aimee's storyline done and dusted after season two, as ever the well-researched and sensitively handled Sex Education hit the nail on the head, showing that an incident like the one Aimee went through really can stay with you.

Watch a particularly moving clip, below:

We see Aimee telling her friend Maeve (Emma Mackey) that she feels like a "different person" since the assault, as she questions her relationship with Steve.

Plus, we also see a continuation of her struggle with physical intimacy following the incident - something which many survivors of sexual assault also report.

Her storyline also raises the importance of speaking out and asking for help in order to process such incidences, with scenes depicting Aimee visiting Otis' mum, Jean, for counselling.

Reacting to Aimee's scenes in the most recent instalment, across the country women have clearly been moved by what they've seen, and have taken to social media to share their own stories.

One wrote: "I don’t know who to talk to about that so I’ll say it here.

"I’m watching Sex Education and the way Aimee feels and how it’s portrayed… I relate so much".

Aimee is still dealing with her assault in the new series (
Netflix)

As another penned: "Aimee’s storyline on sex education has made me realise so much about my own trauma, I love that show so much".

Another wrote: "Aimee’s storyline in Sex Education is so important and really resonated with me. I think at some point or another one our lives, every single woman/girl I know has been Aimee, in some way. Every single one of us."

In case you need a reminder of Aimee's story, essentially, season two saw her get on the bus to school only for a man to masturbate onto her leg.

When Aimee realises, she gets off the bus, and initially tries to self protect by brushing it off as nothing more than creepy behaviour.

But Maeve encourages her to report the incident to the police - and as the series goes on we see the incident has affected Aimee much more than she first let on.

Every day on the way to school, Aimee forces herself to walk the whole way, because she physically can't get onto the bus.

Aimee's bus scene hit close to home (
Netflix)

Her mind starts playing tricks on her, and she begins to see the mysterious man wherever she goes.

And as season three demonstrates, the trauma doesn't suddenly disappear, despite her friends Ola (Patricia Allison), Viv (Chinenye Ezeudu), Olivia (Simone Ashley), Maeve and Lily (Tanya Reynolds)' very kind gesture, which saw them getting the bus alongside her, in solidarity.

Not long ago, sexual health charity Brook found that more than half of UK students have faced unwanted sexual behaviour, TFL stated that 90 per cent of unwanted sexual behaviour on London transport goes unreported; and the heartbreaking truth is that almost every adult woman has had at least one experience of sexual harassment or assault in their lives - either first hand or through somebody close to them.

In fact, speaking about the much praised scenes, the show's creator Laurie Nunn has since revealed that the story had actually been inspired by a personal experience.

"The Aimee storyline came from a very personal thing that happened to me," she said.

Aimee's trauma has been a key part of her storyline (
Netflix)

"I knew that I wanted to write about it in a cathartic sense. And also because I don't know a woman who hasn't had something - maybe not as bad as that, but something like that - happen in their life.

"It felt like something with the support of Netflix that I could be brave enough to write about."

The writer went on: "What I wanted to highlight with it is - everything happening in #MeToo, which is fantastic and amazing in dealing with power dynamics - but it's also just about as female, what it feels like to move through the world and not feel entirely safe. That's what I wanted to capture."

It's safe to say she did just that.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Sex Education, TV And Film