'Gender Affirming Care' is Childhood Transition Abuse (CTA)
An article by "Dr. P," a UK Psychologist with over 30 years' experience
For the entirety of human history, one of the most powerful drivers of social behaviour is that adults provide care and protection to children. We safeguard them and ensure their wellbeing until they mature and become independently capable of rational thought and action.
But somehow, here in the West, in a shift that defies the very laws of nature (and seemingly evolutionary biology) this foundational principle of safeguarding and nurturing minors is being abandoned.
In the guise of ‘Gender Affirming Care’ we are engaging in the systematic and widespread violation of our very own children. We have demonised and pathologised the normal developmental processes of childhood.
And the inexplicable tragedy is that instead of this being a fringe activity, which when discovered is treated with the strongest social opprobrium and legal sanction (such as Childhood Sexual Abuse – CSA), the derailment of children’s normal physical, social and intellectual development has somehow been given the imprimatur of ‘lifesaving healthcare’.
It is celebrated and lauded. It is encouraged and promoted. It is also amazingly and incomprehensibly, legal!
But GAC is not healthcare in any way shape or form. Indeed ‘Gender’, ‘Affirming’ and ‘Care’ are three words that should never occur together, either conceptually or IRL.
Gender is a metaphysical and unprovable concept and has no place in medicine (and, conceivably, in life). Affirming means to state something as true. Care means to provide something that is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance and protection of someone.
That ‘GAC’ has taken hold in Western society is nothing short of a generational scandal equal to any past horrors in human history. ‘GAC’ must be recognised for what it truly is. A ruthless attack on the developing mind and body of the growing child.
It is a form of child abuse whose capacity to cause harm is directly analogous to (if not worse) than Childhood Sexual Abuse.
Following, I expand on why, as a clinical psychologist and child protection expert I believe this to be the case.
Childhood Sexual Abuse
Defining terms: Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)
This can be defined as: 'forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening'. There is no consent.
Wikipedia further says:
“CSA is not confined to specific settings; it permeates various institutions and communities. CSA affects children in all socioeconomic levels, across all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, and in both rural and urban areas. CSA is not restricted to one individual setting; it passes through a multitude of institutions and communities. This includes but is not limited to schools, homes, and online spaces where adolescents are exposed to abuse and exploitation.”
Child sexual exploitation
This is a form of CSA. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity: (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or; (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator.
Why CSA is dangerous
CSA is so dangerous because it attacks the child (who, in this piece is anyone under the age of 18) on many different fronts. These are:
- Attachment: CSA disrupts the ability for the child to form healthy attachments. The child may struggle with feelings of worthlessness, fear and difficulty trusting others, which can last into adulthood.
- Trauma: CSA can cause complex trauma, including dissociation, anxiety, depression, self-harm and self-destructive behaviours.
- Distorted cognitions: CSA can cause children to have distorted beliefs about themselves and the world. This can lead to long-term emotional issues such as low self-esteem, depression and difficulties in interpersonal relations.
- Psychodynamic impact: CSA can lead to repressed memories and unresolved intrapsychic conflict. This may distort the individual’s sense of self, leading to difficulties with identity formation and emotional regulation.
- Neurobiological impact: CSA can alter the brain’s architecture and functioning. The release of cortisol (the stress hormone), affects regions of the brain involved in memory, learning and planning. Additionally, the amygdala (involved in emotional regulation) is ‘over-sensitised’. These neurobiological changes can contribute to long-term mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and can also negatively impact memory, planning and concentration.
- Sense of self: CSA can severely hinder the development of a positive self-concept. Children may internalise negative messages about themselves due to the abuse they have suffered. This can impact their sense of self-worth and ability to relate to others. This distorted self-view can lead children to feelings of shame, guilt and confusion about their identity and value.
The above shows that CSA has a global and wholly negative impact on a child’s development. It disrupts and potentially destroys everything from a child's neurobiological architecture, to their personality development, to their sense of self and understanding of their place in the world. These harms are not limited to the childhood period. They can continue into adulthood and forever scar the individual.
As a society we understand the profound and long-lasting dangers of CSA, and so we make every effort to protect children. But we are now seemingly blind to what should be a glaringly obvious truth. Namely that telling a child they are born in the ‘wrong body’ and then putting them through the process of ‘GAC’ results in the very same negative psychological and sociological processes that occur when a child is being sexually abused.
(And, added to this are the impacts of 'lifesaving surgeries' which leave the child sterile, physically weakened, in chronic pain and chronically ill.)
If we then we remove the sexual element and replace CSA with CTA, the above description broadly outlines the way in which the flawed concept of the ‘trans child’ has become embedded in Western society.
GAC is Childhood Sexual Transition Abuse (CTA)
What comprises CTA?
Medical:
- Using hormones to delay puberty
- Administering male hormones to girls and female hormones to boys.
- Surgical intervention to alter secondary sex characteristics
Psychological/therapeutic:
- ‘Diagnosing’ a child with ‘Gender Dysphoria’
- ‘Affirming’ a child’s transgender ‘identity’.
- Reinforcing a child’s distorted cognitions.
Sociological:
- Calling a child by a new name denoting either the opposite sex, or no sex at all.
- ‘Socially transitioning’ children
- Allowing the child to ‘identify’ as a non-human animal.
Different levels of CTA
My formulation of CTA has three different levels: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary.
Primary CTA
Primary CTA occurs when the ‘affirming’ act/intervention is directed towards the individual child being ‘transed’. For example, ‘social transitioning’ and hormonal and surgical interventions.
Secondary CTA
Secondary CTA occurs when other children are forced to take part in, accede to, or acknowledge the child’s ‘transition’. For example, being compelled to use the child’s new name and pronouns; being forced to share facilities with a child of the opposite sex; being forced to disrobe in front of a child of the opposite sex; being forced to inappropriately to engage in social, leisure and sporting activities with a child of the opposite sex. The victims of secondary CTA are the child’s minor siblings, classmates and peers.
Tertiary CTA
Tertiary CTA refers to any use of the image of a transed child in the media, or the use of images and words encouraging children that transition is a safe and/or normal procedure. For example, when organisations use pictures of ‘transed’ children to promote youth ‘LGBTQ+’ activities, or to push gender ideology. The victims of tertiary CTA are again, other minor children.
Examples of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary CTA
Primary CTA
Institutions such as hospitals and clinics administering of ‘GAC’ to minors. For example, in the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care @wesstreeting is refusing to intervene to stop children being harmed by the forthcoming ‘clinical trials’ on the use of PBs. Institutions such as schools and charities running social/support groups for 'transgender' children.
Secondary CTA
In the US, Democrats are refusing to keep boys out of girls’ sports and changing rooms. Twelve ‘Sanctuary States’ will ‘shield’ any minor ‘transgender child’ who leaves the home of their ‘non-affirming’ parents. In Scotland, the Care Inspectorate has announced that girls in care (already very likely victims of CSA by males) should share bedrooms and toilets with boys who 'self-identify' as girls. This is unimaginably cruel and very dangerous. https://tinyurl.com/589u5wt9
Tertiary CTA
In 2017, National Geographic put a nine-year old ‘trans girl’ called Avery on its cover (his story has not turned out well). He is now stunted, isolated and identifies as 'non-binary'. And infamously, Jazz Jennings was just six years old when with the complicity of his parents (and Barbara Walters), he told the world he was a “girl”. This horror was followed by the infamous “I am Jazz” reality TV (horror) show which ran on the @TLCnetwork for eight years. This year, the Trevor Project used the image of a boy who believes himself to be a girl to promote International Women’s Day. Elon Musk's son (born Xavier) is gracing the cover of @TeenVogue who are pretending he is a girl called 'Vivian'.
Similarities between CTA and CSA
Using the CSA model, I have developed the following definition of Childhood Transition Abuse: “Enticing or forcing a child or young person to believe they are not of the sex to which they were born and carrying out medical, psychological and sociological interventions on that child to reinforce this false belief.”
We use our understanding of CSA to position childhood ‘GAC’ within an abuse framework.
Consent
Children cannot meaningfully consent to ‘GAC’. They are incapable of understanding the global and long-term implications of what is being done to their bodies.
Power imbalance
Children are often ‘transed’ by their parents or by other figures in authority such as teachers or counsellors. This obvious power imbalance is then compounded by other adults including doctors, social workers, charity workers, politicians etc, who ‘affirm’ the child’s belief (and/or the parents' desires) that they are ‘transgender’.
Coercion
The child is coerced by adults into believing that they must ‘transition’ in order to become their ‘authentic’ selves. They are further groomed into believing that if they are unable to ‘transition’ then suicide is their only option. See here this appallingly irresponsible terrible reporting by @walesonline which perpetuates the trans/suicide myth. https://x.com/JournalismSEEN/status/1898652681574482385
Manipulation and deception
Children are developmentally incapable of carrying out complex sequential reasoning. They live in the moment and those who are ‘transed’ receive attention, status and positive reinforcement. This comes from professionals, often parents, social media and sometimes from other family members.
Financial and social media exploitation
Parents often monetise their child’s ‘transition’ to vast financial benefit (most infamously Jazz Jennings). There is also Irish blogger Jonathonjoly who dresses his prepubescent son ‘Amelia’ as a girl and parades this poor naïve child all over social media and who has nearly four million followers on TikTok alone. There are uncountable numbers of such parents who have ‘economically transitioned’ their children just to gain clicks, likes and money.
The world is just beginning to wake up to the harms of putting children's lives on the internet. This harm is starkly exemplified by the case of Ruby Franke, the Utah-based 'Mommy Vlogger' who ran the YouTube channel '8 Passengers' detailing the lives of her husband and six children. Ms Franke, feeding off her social media fame and huge monetary reward, became increasingly more extreme in her parenting, until this tipped over into outright child abuse. She eventually pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and is now serving an indeterminate custodial sentence.
Likewise, I predict that when 'transgender' children grow up and realise the extent to which they were exploited by both their parents and by social media companies the ensuing lawsuits will be of epic proportions. As will the destruction of these families.
CSA and CTA being two sides of the same coin
Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) and Childhood Transition Abuse (CTA) are twins. For now, the dark twin CSA, lurks on the fringes of the internet and is still met with near universal condemnation and with legal sanction. But its daylight twin CTA is not only being carried out in the full glare of daylight, it is being applauded encouraged and supported.
The destruction of safeguarding
As a clinical psychologist involved in child protection I have spent decades working with children who have been physically, sexually and emotionally abused. And until very recently my profession recognised the profound and irreversible damage done to children when their core sense of self and physical boundaries are violated by malevolent adults.
But it is to the eternal shame of the medical and so-called ‘caring’ professions that children are now being sacrificed children on the altar of gender ideology. And it will be to the everlasting shame of Western society that this abuse is occurring with the active encouragement of every organisation and institution one might have expected to rally in defence of vulnerable children.
To illustrate this institutional rot, see this frightening thread on the infiltration of gender ideology into UK scouting: https://x.com/TwisterFilm/status/1898733989088604186
Questions need to be asked as to how such institutions became so woefully captured. For example, just as historians are still studying how the Weimar Republic turned into the Third Reich, we will no doubt spend many decades (if not centuries) trying to understand how we all so rapidly and easily succumbed to the collective psychosis of gender ideology.
In this and in my other articles I have used my training as a clinical psychologist to begin to understand this process.
Final thoughts
‘Gender identity’ does not exist. Mutilation is not ‘care’. Children’s naïve and delusional thinking should not be ‘affirmed’. There are no ‘trans children’. There has never, in the history of the human race been a ‘trans child’.
This is because: (a) childhood is an incomplete developmental process; and, (b) no human can change sex.
Children are by definition, foolish and silly. They need adult protection and they need our care (as applied in its proper sense before the concept was bastardised by gender zealots.)
The stark truth is that if we cannot protect our children then we no longer have a properly functioning society. We will have become a species that, like polar bears or lions, or tiger sharks, destroys its own young. But unlike these animals we are doing so not for reasons of resource scarcity, or in response to reproductive drives encoded into our DNA.
We are doing so because of the cowardly refusal to stand up to a dangerous, malevolent and extremely stupid ideology. And in this egregious failure we have normalised and even come to celebrate and adulate the abuse of our very own children.
Childhood Transition Abuse is a violation. It must be stopped.
Thank you for reading this article.
If you would like to support my work, you can do so at: https://t.co/h3n558Mr1N
Stay frosty! Dr P