Andrea Robin Skinner, childhood sexual abuse survivor and daughter of Alice Munro, releases a new song about her experience
TORONTO, April 28, 2026 /CNW/ – Andrea Robin Skinner, the daughter of Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro, whose story of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was first reported in The Toronto Star in 2024, is releasing a song at the Transforming Trauma Together Festival in Toronto on May 13, 2026. The festival is run by The Gatehouse, an organization that supports survivors of CSA. The song, entitled “Ophelia,” is dedicated to ending the silence around CSA.
“Ophelia” was first performed as part of Andrea’s keynote address at a Toronto fundraiser in October, 2025. The song is set to be included in upcoming presentations by Patricia Bovey, art historian, activist and former senator, on the subject of art and health. “Ophelia” will also be featured in a documentary about Andrea’s life and her meetings with artists and social activists across Canada.
Studies indicate that sexual abuse affects roughly 1 in 5 children worldwide. Experts at both Childlight Global Child Safety Institute of the University of Edinburgh, and within the United Nations, have urged leaders and politicians to treat CSA as a global public health emergency. Keeping this urgent matter front-and-centre needs multiple approaches, with art being a way to reach people at a level of deep empathy. “If we are to dream of a healthier, less fractured world,” claims trauma expert Gabor Maté in The Myth of Normal, “we will have to harness and amplify compassion’s healing power.”
For Andrea, art is profoundly transformative: “I believe art has the power to disrupt patterns of violence, whether internalized or externalized, by reminding us of our shared humanity and instinct to care for ourselves and others.”
“Ophelia” is a collaboration, co-written by Andrea Robin Skinner and Stephanie Martin, performed by Stephanie Martin, and produced by David Krystal, with music video by Andrew Sabiston.
About Andrea Robin Skinner: andrearobinskinner.com
About The Gatehouse and Transforming Trauma Together Festival: thegatehouse.org
About the Song: Stream
About Stephanie Martin: stephaniemartin.ca
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SOURCE Andrea Robin Skinner
