Here she gives Sentinel reporter Eamon Sweeney her very forthright views on the nature of sexual abuse in Londonderry, the law and the judiciaries attitudes to it and how to make people aware that the shame lies not with the victims but the abusers.
What does Nexus do?

We do one thing and we do it very well. We specialise in professional counselling to anyone over 17 who has suffered sexual violence or any sexual crime whatsoever. That is our core function and it takes up almost 80 per cent of our time. The rest of the time is spent raising awareness in schools and youth organisations and also lobbying government.

How does the organisation operate on a weekly basis?

We have a very highly skilled team of counsellors who work here. We deal with very vulnerable people and our counsellors hear horrific stories every day, but we have a great camaraderie in here and it is a good place to work. Counsellors also have to have clinical supervision to help them deal with what is coming up.

Was the switch to your current job a massive culture shock?

Absolutely. I think it took the guts of a year before I got my head around it. I honestly thought I was getting a cushy job, but it was a huge learning curve. I thought it was only certain people that abuse happened to, that was the myth I believed. I then realised that it happened to people from all backgrounds. I had a stereotypical image of a dirty old man in a mac. It was far from it. What really surprised me was how much it happened within families, respectable families, fathers, uncles and mothers in some cases who put a very respectable face out to their own community but all sorts was happening behind their own doors. It was very hard to deal with. I did contemplate leaving but I realised there was a lot of work to be done so settled down and got on with it.

So, it was good to have your preconceptions challenged?

I think I would have thought twice about the job if I had known what was ahead. I was somewhat naive. When I realised there was a two year waiting list it was a shock. At first there were just three of us now there are 15 of us. Nexus has grown and developed so we can devote the time required to this task.

Is the growth in staff levels indicative of the scale of the problem in Londonderry?

I think when I started it was a great conversation stopper. If I didn't want to talk to someone I just told them what I did and they would scuttle away in horror. It was a very uncomfortable subject. There was that old Irish culture of not speaking about sex. But a lot of high profile cases in the past few years like the Sarah Payne case woke up the national conscience. People started to talk about it. There has been a lot of work done on the ground, a lot of education and Nexus has played it's role. But, we could be given a lot more and we save the NHS a lot of money.

How would you like to see sexual legislation reformed?

It is a very challenging thing. Counsellors here and victims have to be totally ready to go to court. There is always a hot shot barrister waiting to drive a bus through everything you say. In court you are talking about the most intimate details of your life and being cross examined in front of these people, so you can understand why a lot of people do not want to go to court.
But, it annoys me that there are perpetrators walking the streets with a facade of respectability, so we encourage people to go to court.
The judicial system does not work in favour of the victim-how do you prove something that may have happened over 30 years ago? It is hard to watch how peoples lives have panned out over the years after abuse.
We have juries who if they hear a person was drunk, or a girl was wearing a short skirt, doom the victim from the start. These things do not mean that victims are open for rape.
I would also like to see barristers and the Crown better informed on the specifics of what happens. Judges need to be better informed of the dynamics of it. Letters of support for perpetrators should not be allowed either just because someone appears to have led a respectable life. Sexual violence has always been the poor relation when it comes to justice. But people are no longer taking it, they are saying it is scandalous. There is a new strategy on sexual violence due at the end of the month which has promised reform and I would like to see it implemented.

What is the biggest challenge facing Nexus right now?

Funding. We are at the mercy