Trans charity Mermaids accused of sending chest binders to teenage girls against parents’ wishes

A transgender charity has been accused of giving breast-squeezing devices to young girls against their parents’ will.

Mermaids staff offered to send a breast strap to a girl they thought was only 14 after being told her mother wasn’t allowed to use one.

According to a study by the Daily Telegramthe charity has offered binders to children as young as 13, despite their parents saying they are against the practice.

The paper also said the charity’s online help center tells children presenting as young as 13 and 14 that hormone-blocking drugs are safe and “fully reversible.”

Mermaids, a taxpayer-funded group that supports transgender children and their families, provides training for schools and the NHS.

Breast binding, also known as breast binding, is the flattening of breasts through the use of constricting materials. The term also refers to the material used in this Act.

The ultra-tight garments can cause ‘terrible’ health problems, including breathing and breastfeeding problems, chronic back pain and broken ribs, increasing the risk of a lung puncture.

Campaigners have called on regulators to step in and launch an investigation into what they call “protecting red flags.”

Breast binders are being used by a growing number of girls who think they are the wrong gender to disguise their breasts and make them look like boys.

The practice was condemned as “painful and potentially harmful” by Dr. Hilary Cass, the former president of the Royal College of Pediatrics in a mid-term review of trans child services for the NHS.

The binders, which often resemble a vest or crop top, are usually made of nylon and spandex.

When worn, the extremely tight-fitting undergarments compress the breasts to create the illusion of a flat chest.

But medical experts have emphasized their dangers.

A senior doctor warned that they can cause broken ribs, chronic chest and back pain, and even prevent girls from breastfeeding later in life because of the damage to breast tissue.

A 2008 NHS England publication noted that breast binders should only be used for short periods of time because they can ’cause back problems’ and distort breast tissue, which could affect future surgery to remove the breasts.

The opinion also noted that binders are ‘not suitable’ for women with ‘heavy breasts’.

A 2017 study led by Sarah Peitzmeier of the University of Michigan and published in the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality noted that nearly 9 out of 10 people experienced at least one negative effect of bonding, and 8 out of 10 felt it. important to discuss binding with a healthcare provider.

Stephanie Davies-Arai, the founder and director of Transgender Trend, a campaign group, told the Telegraph, “This is a major safety concern because breast-binding is basically a form of self-harm.”

She went on to say that Mermaids provided “inaccurate and unbiased information” and that parents deserved to “know all the information, whatever decision they ultimately make.”

The campaigner added that an “inquiry into mermaids was long overdue,” a sentiment echoed by Miriam Cates, Tory MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, who called the findings “huge safety signals.”

Fellow activist Maya Forstater, who received legal protection in 2019 for holding “gender-critical” views, said on Twitter that Mermaids’ practice was “not OK” and that the “organization shouldn’t be in schools” and “should be.” to be’. investigated by the charitable commission’.

The charity issued guidelines before shipping the transmitter, according to the Telegraph, including that it should not be used or worn during exercise for more than 8 hours a day, and should be removed if the wearer suffers from ailments such as illness, dizziness or overheating.

The charity declined to comment on the findings of the Telegraph’s investigation.

About chest binding, they told MailOnline: ‘Some transmale, non-binary and gender diverse people experience physical dysphoria as a result of their chest, and for some it helps to alleviate that distress.

“Mermaids takes a position to mitigate harm, understanding that giving a young person a binder and comprehensive safety guidelines from an experienced employee is preferable to the likely alternative of unsafe practices and/or persistent or increasing dysphoria.

The risk is weighed up by Mermaids employees in the context of our assurance framework.’

Mermaids works with about 500 young people and 1400 parents and educates schools about homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

The Leeds-based charity is led by Susie Green, a former IT consultant who has been CEO since 2016, who brought her own child to Thailand for genital surgery at the age of 16, as the minimum age in the UK is 18.

Her daughter Jackie was born as a boy – Jack – and her struggles with menopause partly inspired the ITV drama Butterfly, which aired in 2018.

It comes as Mermaids is embroiled in a legal battle after the group appealed last year against the Charity Commission’s decision to grant legal status to the LGB Alliance.

This is believed to be the first time a charity has attempted to remove the charitable status of another charity.

The LGB Alliance has defended its position “that sexual orientation is about biological sex” after her charitable status was challenged by the transgender rights group.

The hearing was supposed to end this month, but has since been postponed to November.