I have worked with Paedophiles & their victims. We must never downplay the horrors of child sex abuse

This article was published in yesterday's Independent. Thank you to the survivors who have been in touch in response to it. I will continue to ensure victims of child sex abuse have a voice in the media.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/i-ve-worked-with-paedophiles-and-their-victims-we-must-never-downplay-the-horrors-of-child-sex-abuse-a6706417.html

The Transgender Revolution

Congratulations to the New Internationalist on the ground breaking October edition, The Transgender Revolution. I was proud to be part of the production, contributing a detailed country profile on human rights (or lack thereof) in Sudan, up to and including the South’s secession. NI is a subscription based magazine, so I’m afraid I can’t supply the link. You can subscribe online. It’s the best international human rights magazine out there, read by Hollywood Stars and UN ambassadors alike. I rest my case.

Candy-floss Clouds

Candy-floss clouds in the morning sky

Mist and magic, days gone by

Hundreds of Jinny Jo taking flight in the wind

Translucent specs, carrying hopes and sins

In the valley a teenager is plucked from this world

The paperwork's ready, it’s all unfurled

His loved ones hearts are pulled asunder

He wasn’t ready, the strike of thunder

A child tells her mother that life’s not fair

Her tummy is rumbling, the cupboard is bare, no time for her to stand and stare

No parties, no shoes, no laughter to give

It’s hard to be aspirational when you have nowhere to live

A woman hides behind a broken door

His hand came down, she hit the floor

She wonders how to escape his touch

But there’s no safe place. They cost too much

The old man waits on a rickety trolley

Bed blockers, they call them, on an NHS jolly

His feet are cold and his lips are dry

Robbed of his dignity, he longs to die

Candyfloss clouds in the morning sky

Mist and magic, days gone by

Hundreds of Jinny Jo taking flight in the wind

Translucent specs, carrying hopes and sins

*Jinny Jo is the term many Irish people use to describe Dandelion seeds. You make a wish and blow them in the air.

It was national poetry day in the UK on Thursday, so I had a bash at writing this poem incorporating some of the news stories that moved me this week.

Respect to Sisters Uncut who stormed the Suffragette premier this week. Staging a die in on the red carpet, they chanted, “Dead women can’t vote”. Like the original suffragettes, they were man handled off the premises by a bunch of burly men. http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-i-protested-with-sisters-uncut-at-the-premiere-of-suffragette-a6685686.html