Mermaids closes chatlines

If vulnerable children, at risk of self harm or even suicide (and that is the constant claim), surely the sensible thing to do it you have to close your phone lines would be to sign post elsewhere. Childline or similar.

Well, so they say. I don’t condone abuse of staff and volunteers, if that’s happened, but I wouldn’t necessarily take Mermaids word on it.

Exactly.

Mermaids in its current form is built off the experience of Susie Green.

This means that they believe that children of 2 or 3 can be socially transitioned by their parents with no questions asked because children of that age are capable of understanding and expressing their sex and all parents are capable of understanding this without possibility of something nefarious or misguided going on.

This basis belief that underpins Mermaids is incapable with safeguarding.

Mermaids exists to validate Susie Green's belief and prevent all questioning of her.

If you remove the bubble of protection that is Mermaids, Susie Green is exposed.

Yesterday's revelations were that they employ with a 'trans friendly DBS' - whatever that means [an assumption that trans people's old lives mustn't be looked at?], and that they encouraged kids onto Discord which is for over 17s only.

Indeed and as they push for children to able to change their sex on their medical notes and “Deadnaming” being equivalent to actual violence, it does not surprise me.

The more I read the more I am starting to think somebody was/is suffering from Munchausen by Proxy. In the extreme form. Its the only thing that makes sense to me.

Mermaids and their like simply cannot exist IF proper safeguarding was in place. As no ACTUAL safeguarding would allow kids to be sent for puberty blockers in the first place.

That's the point.

Training for Samaritans and Childline is pretty rigorous. I wonder if Mermaids was less so.

It is 100% guaranteed that it was woefully inadequate.

Both these posts are so on the nail. The points they make need to be broadcast far and wide until there's no one left who doesn't understand what's going on, and it's crystal clear that anyone who still supports this organisation is happy to state they're OK with this.

I am confused by why, if receiving so much abuse, the response is to reduce hours and close on Wednesdays.

Receiving abuse over the phone is better if it’s not on Wednesday?

It’s clearly obvious that either volunteers have left or they have started checking the backgrounds of their volunteers and realised they have to get rid od a load of them.

The problem Is a lack of people to man the phones. I doubt they record calls and I bet if they did, non of the so called abusive ones would be available to listen to.

Had they not thought to press the disconnect button and end the call…?

All telephone lines which are open to the public do.

And if their volunteers are anything like the other people we see involved in this ideology, they are the least resilient people ever.

Constantly feeling 'unsafe', tantruming at being misgendered, and just generally feeling persecuted at every turn.

EAT are based on the recognition that eating disorders are harmful. The use the word "disorder". Mermaids simply don't believe that physical transition is harmful or that wanting to physically change your sex is a disorder.

We're in the situation where children are bound to receive physical treatment for serious mental health issues that we're not allowed to call mental health issues.

'There is nothing wrong with these children, therefore they must be medicated and be put on a path to surgery to affirm their health'

To be clear: I've no doubt at all that she's a shit IT consultant.

What she definitely isn't includes: doctor, psychologist, social worker, safeguarding expert... all of which were needed to do Mermaids properly, and all of which they seem to have self-identified as not needing.

The 999 service gets plenty of abuse but has to put up with it.

Yes. And I will never get over the fact that the government has allowed them to bloody teach it to the children in the first place. Teach them the ideology, and then treat them for believing it.

I’m trying to figure out why Mermaids have proven to be quite so spectacularly shit at, well, everything

Because Mermaids exist for a purpose and safeguarding gets in the way of that purpose. Promoting physical transition to children and young people who (say they) want to transition is what Mermaids are for. Safeguarding is a nuisance, something they begrudgingly do because they have to. They don't agree with this aspect of legal safeguarding and that affects their whole approach to it, it affects who they recruit and how they train them.

If you honestly believe that refusing binders to 13 year olds is oppressive and denies their true identity and their parents are transphobes then wouldn't you be tempted to send them out?

It's a contrast to organisations like BEAT. BEAT are based on the recognition that eating disorders are harmful. The use the word "disorder". Mermaids simply don't believe that physical transition is harmful or that wanting to physically change your sex is a disorder. And they get away with it because of the huge social movement to normalise even the most extreme gender dysphoria, a social movement which Mermaids themselves help to drive in the UK.

And when you get away with something for long enough, when nobody stops you, you think you can get away with it for ever. And you get ever more reckless.

Your regular reminder: Susie Green is an IT consultant.

Don't tar IT consultants with that brush.

She isn't a IT consultant. She someone who identifies as an IT consultant and isn't good at that.

She was in charge of a children's charity that was at the heart of a massive data leak and was fined by the ICO and has volunteers encouraging minors to go on Discord as if its no biggy.

All the IT nerds I know would take a sharp intake of breathe through their teeth on the poor practice and being ignorant of the basics going on there.

She wouldn't last 5 minutes at any reputable firm of IT consultants before she was found out. She's unlikely to even get past the interview stage.

There is a "sensitive applications" or sthg version of DBS targeted at trans people, it's nothing dramatic, it just keeps your former name confidential from your employer. In the guise of "not outing you as trans" I guess.

That's probably also why mermaids are vague about it as far from wanting to hide from Mermaids that they're trans, it's a selling point. The supposed trans-friendliness in this case has next to no benefit.

As Andrew Gilligan once tweeted, in response to Mermaids' latest demand for no-questions-asked medical transition for children:

Your regular reminder: Susie Green is an IT consultant.

We've said for a while on here that the 'boy crying wolf' aspect of all the 'non-crime hate incidents' and accusations of 'transphobia' would lead to people just not believing it any more when people say they're being abused/hate crimed.

Just remember that just yesterday, after the paedo Trustee, after the Digital Engagement officer and his anus and penis art on twitter, after the safeguarding and binder issues they STILL are recruiting with 'trans friendly DBS' procedures.

I doubt they have any hint of safeguarding or have even considered that kids need any.

After all if kids, at age 3, can be 'trans' why should adults do anything to prevent any harm as 3 year olds have enough agency for themselves.

The whole thing needs shutting down immediately. And all adjacent and similar groups need to be investigated.

What you mean? They have volunteers left to answer the telephone who don't have a really dubious personal life splattered all over the Internet or are still willing to associate themselves with paedo apologists and cock collages?

How can they get abuse if there is no one left to switch the lights out in the building never mind answer the phone apart from Susie Green?

Sorry they are the boy who cried wolf a few too many times and ignored warnings that they were liable to attract wrong 'uns with their total lack of interest in safeguarding.

Abuse to them is parents ringing up and saying "has my child been in contact with that green tasched penis bloke?" or "what steps have you taken to vet other volunteers and is this restricted just to dbs checks? " or "are you responsible for sending my daughter the binder I found in her room when I explicitly had banned her from having one?"

I don't believe them.

They see legitimate concerns and accountability as hateful.

Their response about dbs being anxiety producing for trans people is nuts. Why? This is a charity known to be sympathetic to trans people. They know if someone is trans they have a previous identity but beyond a name why is that an issue likely to be talked about in that environment? Why is having a dbs anxiety producing if you have a clean background? Ditto doing a search history of previous name? Everyone else gets vetted for their whole life in other fields? Why is the special status needed.

Its still missing the point of why its fucked up so badly and scandals keep following it around like a bad smell.

Its not learnt anything even now.

The line needed shutting down. It was peddling harmful shit to minors. It was giving out binders and encouraging minors to use discord (which has an over 17s rating and a warning issued over the amount that its used to groom children)

I hope it doesn't reopen.

What I find really concerning is that an organisation with extremely poor vetting and safeguarding processes and procedures could recruit and train volunteers to speak one to one with vulnerable children.

Who are these volunteers?

How sure are Mermaids that they understand and abide by child safeguarding?

How sure are Mermaids that they do not have suspicious motives to volunteer?

How sure are Mermaids that their procedures are robust enough to safeguard children against such suspicious volunteers?

I’m trying to figure out why Mermaids have proven to be quite so spectacularly shit at, well, everything

lack of self reflection maybe?

they are after all a bunch of people who think that the answer to a child playing with the ‘wrong’ toys is to lie to them that they’re a member of the opposite sex, and to enable them to take physically harmful measures like breast crushing without telling their parents

they also campaign for unrestricted access for children to drugs that damage IQ and bone density

the clues have been there all along

it’s hard to see how anyone with a modicum of self insight could think that any of the above is ok

A > insert demographic here < friendly DBS sounds like the biggest red flag on the planet.

It absolutely does. Assuming it means "we won't look into your history under your past name/gender identity" - and what else can it mean? - then it's an open invitation to predators.