Inspirational value of ‘transcenders’

Sir — Shane Dunphy (Sunday Independent, December 4) paints a largely very sad but unfortunately very true picture of the long-term effects of child sexual abuse.

He writes about how survivors are 59pc more likely to be arrested as juveniles and 80pc of 21-year-olds on the books of Tusla for childhood sexual abuse present with some degree of psychiatric disorder.

However, at the end of the article, he writes about “transcenders”. These are people who experienced abuse as children but often end up choosing careers to try to ensure any child in their care never has to experience what they experienced and live with its long-term consequences.

These people are truly inspirational because they turn a negative experience for them into a positive.

A very good example of someone like this is Christina Noble. She spent time in an orphanage after her mother died when she was 10, escaped and was gang raped while living rough. As an adult she has devoted her life to working with street children in Vietnam.

Child sexual abuse can have devastating consequences for individuals and it is imperative that everyone educates themselves on this issue to ensure it doesn’t happen.

However, for survivors it is also important for them to realise that it need not define them. They can transcend the experience and even use it to help prevent it happening to the current generation of children. Tommy Roddy,

Galway