Trans charity 'must not give children binders without telling parents'

A trans charity faces criticism today after being found responsible for 'mismanagement in a number of areas'.

Bosses at Mermaids - which supports gender-questioning youngsters and their families - have been ordered by a watchdog to be clearer about the risks of puberty blockers. 

They were also told to ensure parents are informed if they intend providing chest binders to children in future.

A two-year Charity Commission investigation cleared the organisation of misconduct - but concluded there had been mismanagement amid a failure to adapt as it grew 'considerably in a short period of time'.

The inquiry was opened after complaints around chest-binding services and the online support Mermaids was offering to young people.

The watchdog's report, published today, said the charity had issued 125 binders - used to flatten breasts with constrictive materials to make the person more male-presenting - between January 2021 and September 2022.

A total of 24 of those were provided to what the charity termed 'unsupported young persons', meaning those under the age of 19 whose parents or carers were not supportive of the young person's gender identity or expression.

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Fifteen of those went to children aged between 13 and 16.

Mermaids suspended the service in September 2022 'following adverse publicity regarding the service and to protect its staff who had been subject to threatening calls, emails and web chat contacts as a result of the adverse publicity' and formally ended it the following year.

The watchdog said if the charity does ever resume its supply of binders to young people in future, its policy should reflect the findings of the Cass Review, which recommended that parents should be actively involved in such decisions around social transitioning unless there are strong grounds to believe that this could put the young person at risk.

Elsewhere in its 22-page report, the commission said it had ordered Mermaids to review statements on its website about puberty blockers being 'an internationally recognised safe, reversible healthcare option'.

The watchdog said the charity had been 'unclear' about whether the information it was providing was a statement of fact or Mermaids' own opinion, and said that by law charities are required to ensure information provided on an educational basis is accurate, evidence-based and balanced.

Commission chairman Orlando Fraser said providing services to children affected by gender identity issues is 'a highly challenging area that requires great care and sensitivity', also saying: 'We have carefully scrutinised Mermaids' activities through a statutory inquiry and have found mismanagement in a number of areas.'

The commission further wrote that Mermaids should never have appointed ex-trustee Dr Jacob Breslow, who gave a speech at a conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles.

The then PhD student in gender research at the London School of Economics presented his research at an event in Baltimore for the American-based B4U-ACT in 2011.

B4U-ACT lists its aims as supporting and promoting 'a science-informed understanding about people in our communities with an attraction to children or adolescents' on its own website. 

Dr Breslow's presentation, titled Sexual Alignment: Critiquing Sexual Orientation, The Pedophile, and the DSM V, appears to criticise societal understanding of paedophiles. 

The charity was not aware that he had attended the conference and later launched an investigation as to how it was not picked up during his recruitment. At the time then-chair of trustees Belinda Bell said she was 'horrified' by the discoveries and said they would be 'more rigorous in future'.

But the commission slammed the group, saying: 'The failure by the trustees to ensure that the trustee recruitment policy was fully adhered to was mismanagement in the administration of the charity by the trustees in post at the relevant time.'

Mermaids' chairwoman of trustees, Kathryn Downs, said: '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.'

She said the issues she described as 'historic' have been addressed by the charity through two independent reviews and that the board has 'strengthened due diligence processes for trustee recruitment'.