Fair City prompts helpline callers

A NATIONAL helpline for battered women has been extremely busy since Fair City’s grisly depiction of domestic violence.

On Thursday night Marty (Paul Lee) strangled Tess (Sabina Brennan) to death.

The episode included the Women’s Aid Freephone, which last year received a record 13,000 calls, an increase of over 60% on the previous year.

Women’s Aid director Denise Charlton said many of the callers who watched the soap told how they identified with what happened and were now extremely frightened that their lives were in danger.

“I have seen soaps deal with the subject of domestic violence for quite a while now and was surprised that it has had such an impact,” she said.

Ms Charlton said they expected that their three telephone lines would remain busy over the next three because of soap’s ripple effect.

She thought that Fair City handled the domestic violence issue very well. “A lot of domestic violence is all about ownership, power and control,” she said. The Women’s Aid helpline is 1800 341 900. The lines are opened from 10am to 10pm, seven days a week.