Trans charity Mermaids gave children chest binders without telling parents
Trans charity Mermaids gave children chest binders without telling parents
An inquiry by the Charity Commission found ‘serious regulatory concerns’ in the way the support service for young people was run
James Beal
, Social Affairs Editor
The Times
The Mermaids charity, which supports young trans people, was heavily criticised in a report by the Charity Commission
WIKTOR SZYMANOWICZ/FUTURE PUBLISHING/GETTY IMAGES
The transgender charity Mermaids gave chest binders to children as young as 13 against their parents’ wishes and wrongly claimed puberty blockers were reversible, a report by the regulator has found.
The Charity Commission’s two-year inquiry discovered “systemic failings” and “mismanagement” at the organisation, whose chief executive, Susie Green, left abruptly in 2022. The regulator’s report, published on Thursday, reveals that Green was dismissed by the charity’s trustees after they lost confidence in her.
It found that Mermaids gave 24 chest binders to young people without their parents’ involvement — including 15 to children aged 13 to 16. The regulator concluded that parents were unable to ensure safety advice was followed with the chest binders, which are used to flatten breasts with constrictive materials to make a person more male-presenting. It said parents must give consent in decisions to use them.
Mermaids has removed claims on its website that puberty blockers are reversible after being told by the commission to review its language over potential risks.
The Cass report earlier this year into medical care for transgender people warned that drugs used to block the hormones released during puberty could have unintended consequences.
A report by the paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass found there was no good evidence to support giving puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to children
YUI MOK/PA
The commission also gave advice and guidance to Mermaids after identifying “serious regulatory concerns” regarding its governance and management.
Mermaids, which has an annual income of almost £2.3 million and says it supports more than 10,000 people every year, was cleared of misconduct.
Orlando Fraser KC, the Charity Commission chairman, said the findings were “lessons” for charities working in the area of gender identity and that they should pay attention to the Cass review.
He said: “The provision of services to children affected by gender identity issues is a highly challenging area that requires great care and sensitivity. We have carefully scrutinised Mermaids’ activities through a statutory inquiry and have found mismanagement in a number of areas.
“Following the Cass review, we have required Mermaids to present a more accurate picture on its website as to the risks involved in the use of puberty blockers and to follow Cass review findings on the involvement of parents in social transitioning as regards any future provision of chest binders to children.”
The commission opened an investigation into Mermaids in September 2022. It received 62 complaints about the organisation from the public. Two months later the investigation was escalated to a statutory inquiry after the findings of a separate review commissioned by Mermaids.
That review was understood to be highly critical of Green’s handling of complaints and the vetting of trustees, of which Mermaids has had a high turnover with 41 since 2015. The Charity Commission said that trustees should have addressed the “systemic failings” identified by the review “much earlier”.
A complaint of bullying and harassment against Green was not upheld. She later brought a claim of unfair dismissal against Mermaids, which was settled out of court.
Susie Green was dismissed as the chief executive of Mermaids in 2022
KEN MCKAY/ITV/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
The commission found that Mermaids had issued 125 chest binders between January 2021 and September 2022, with 101 of those given to parents and carers. However, 24 were given to “unsupported” young people, classified as those under 19 whose primary carer does not support their gender identity.
Mermaids provided guidance on mitigating risks when using the binders, but “no advice was given on the possible psychological effects” of wearing them, it found.
It is not a criminal offence to supply a binder to a child without parental consent, but the commission said that parents would have been “unable to supervise its use”. This meant parents would not have been able to “ensure that the safety advice is adhered to and that any side-effects are properly identified and addressed”.
The report said there were “potential risks involved in the supply of binders”, including physical harm and “unknown psychological effects caused by social transitioning”.
In two instances, the charity had suspicions that a young person requesting the binder was not who they said they were or was doing it for someone else. On both occasions, the charity told them they did not have the required size in stock, rather than state that the young person had failed due diligence tests. This was a “lack of transparency”, the commission said.
One of those people was a third party posing as an unsupported young person in an attempt to test the charity and the robustness of its checks. A report was later published in a newspaper and the resulting publicity “significantly damaged the charity’s reputation” and could have been avoided, the commission said.
It added: “The charity reported this incident to the police as a fraud and transphobic crime.”
Mermaids scrapped its chest binder service in October last year.
In 2022, The Times revealed how Dr Jacob Breslow had been a Mermaids trustee despite previously speaking at a conference hosted by an organisation that promoted services to paedophiles. Breslow resigned after Mermaids was approached by The Times.
The commission’s report revealed that Breslow, who was an assistant professor of gender and sexuality at the London School of Economics until 2023, was able to become a trustee because of a lack of checks caused by staff sickness. The report said there was a “level of assurance” placed on the fact he worked for a “prestigious educational institution”.
The commission further found Mermaids formed a relationship with Dr Helen Webberley of GenderGP, an unregulated offshore gender clinic. The relationship ceased in 2019.
The report also highlighted that Mermaids was fined £25,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2021 over data breaches.
The commission concluded there had been mismanagement in the administration of the charity by some trustees. It said that, over several years, Mermaids was “not governed to the standards it expects”.
Kathryn Downs, Mermaids’ chair of trustees, said: “The report states, as we anticipated, that there is no finding of misconduct at Mermaids. The commission has also confirmed, as we have repeatedly asserted, that we have not provided medical advice or acted improperly in our work with children, young people and their families.
“The trustees accepted that governance did not keep pace with the charity’s rapid growth linked to rising support needs from trans young people and their families. These historic governance issues were addressed through the implementation of the recommendations of two independent reviews.”
Downs said the time taken to publish the report had been “frustrating” and had significantly affected the charity’s fundraising and ability to deliver its charitable objectives.
Comments
Post a Comment