This is seriously worrying

[TensionWheelsCoolHeels]

https://mobile.twitter.com/jessicae13eaton/status/1021813202064220160

I'm actually more shocked by this than anything else I've read so far on the whole trans issue & there's been a lot that's made my jaw hit the floor. Children traumatised by abuse, then being groomed & further abused because social workers are being told to affirm without working through the trauma, unable to challenge the gender aspect of the exploitation because of "transphobia".

I don't even have the words to comment but I'll be back in a bit.

Jessica's comment:

"And my personal and professional opinion is...we are doing a massive disservice to these kids who have cumulative, extreme traumas and are clearly using gender roles as a coping mechanism or a self protection measure. That needs exploration, not validation"

Agreed it's heart breaking.

I'm shocked and appalled at the kind if crap that in any other circumstances would be seen as creepy predatory and inappropriate that's actively encouraged and applauded the second trans is stuck in front of it.

They couldn't identify out if their trauma could they.

Encouraging minors to keep secrets from parents is one of the oldest grooming tricks in the book.

I’m certainly not saying that I think being trans makes you a predator, only that the combination of adults accessing children online and the culture of secrecy promoted in schools by orgs like Mermaids makes for an exploitable loophole.

Think of all the anon TRA twitter accounts that have anime characters as profile pictures - there is no guarantee there is a transperson behind each one, they could literally be anyone, anywhere.

It's Bristol, Oxford, Rotherham all over again but under a different guise.

It is seriously worrying.

www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/08/uk-child-sex-exploitation-endemic-201482981619568961.html

Sex grooming in the UK is endemic and not just confined to Asian men.

This is very worrying.

More and more I have colleagues (healthcare) who say almost every child who comes to them re anything to do with gender is already in contact with SW with regards another issue in their background.

I am not in the slightest bit surprised. Trans lobby groups are deliberately flouting 'Working Together' and producing training materials promoting adults keeping confidences and presenting parents as 'hostile' to their child's best interests. They don't even do it in a hidden way - it's all there in plain sight.

If you've time, this judgement about the case of child J sets out in stark detail how Social Services chose to follow the 'must affirm at all costs' route in relation to a young child, ignored all the safeguarding concerns, left him with an unstable mother who subjected him to years of emotional abuse until he was finally removed by the Courts. And all because she was determined that he was a girl and despite all evidence to the contrary from the child, the school and other professionals, social services uncritically supported the mother's delusions. It makes chilling reading.

www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2016/2430.html

A couple of weeks ago I had a Facebook message from a friend who believes her son may be being groomed by older people in a trans group on a gaming forum. She believes the group may be promoting self harm. Usual traits, secrecy, manipulative behaviour, telling him what to say and do etc. She asked me for advice, because I post about trans stuff on Facebook, but I didn’t know what to tell her. I was scared to send her to CEOP or NSPCC because I had an idea she would be either dismissed, or called transphobic. I felt awful, because she was asking for help, and despite the fact I believe her, I couldn’t even point her where to go. I gave her a link to transgender trend but that was the best I could do.

It is worrying and disgusting that TRA's are adopting abusers tactics of not telling Parents, Is there any child protection agency challenging this?

This is absolutely terrifying. Both on the consequences of diluting safeguarding frameworks, as we have discussed in detail on here, but also in the blindness of the institutional response.

I'd agree that this has all the signs of a major crisis brewing. And the fallout from it will do great damage not just to the victims but also to the reputation of and trust in our institutions.

This reckless abandonment of proper safeguarding must stop.

I was going to start a thread on this, if there wasn't one already.

I think it's been highlighted on this board before, but the stark reality of the grooming and and biased perspective that many vulnerable children are experiencing on line, particularly reddit, is tracked helpfully here transgenderreality.com (Though equally persuasive and ingrained in sites such as tumblr).

(Thanks to Real Feminists XX @radicalhag on Twitter for the reminder).

Jessica's evidence is concerning but sadly unsuprising given the sheer amount of online presence there is of these views.

The fact that you were concerned that CEOP or NSPCC would reject your friend's worries, HotRocker is a reflection on how there is wariness about the invasiveness of lobbying messages right now. Do you not think CEOP still might be worth a try as a recommendation?

Jessica's wider work is amazing, as well as her focus on this. I don't have much to do with the SW field. So I'm not sure what to do to support getting this visible, other than talk about it here and other places.

HotRocker

I have tremendous respect for Jessica Eaton, the person in the OP's tweet.

In fact, that's an understatement.

If you're worried can you contact her on Twitter? She will direct you to the right place. I'm not sure the NSPCC is the right place, to be honest. They have had the full on mermaids training.

Datun seconded on your respect for Jessica Eaton's work.

And even whilst she's on holiday, she's still on topic (not that it's likely that she's here, but Jessica, enjoy your holiday, it looks awesome!)

longtimelurking careful, I don't think we're meant to align transrights activistis tactics with any others at all, otherwise you may risk deletion!

There's an article on the Transgender Reality blog that sets out examples of adults advising children online.

Often they get advice that is very inappropriate, like advice on how to obtain prescription medications illegally, or advice on how to hide said medications from parents. They are urged to do this as soon as possible. It can take only weeks for a teen to go from confused about their identity to feeling like they absolutely need these hormones. Sometimes adults suggest completely inappropriate courses of action like in this post where a 42 year old offers a teen to come to his house and get “shots”.

I have no idea who's running Transgender Reality, but it's a really valuable activity. And, for those who want to shout 'hate speech' at yet another website who are trying to shine sunlight on things that need to be seen, this is their statement about why they're doing it:

While many transgender people in the offline world just want to live their lives quietly and free from interference, transgender ideology online is rapidly showing indications of becoming a cult, complete with suicides for the cause and self-mutilation and castration. If you are a parent of a newly gender questioning or transgender teenager, you need to be aware of what these online transgender groups are telling your child

There was a thread recently asking if gender critical feminists are sure we're the good guys, and I was somewhat surprised to be asked the question.

But sometimes I find myself wondering why I spend so much time and energy opposing gender ideology and then something hits me all over again. The Transgender Reality site is a very valuable resource, but lots of other things remind me how important the issues are:

• Children on puberty blockers
• The Girl Guides (ffs!) having a secret policy for boys to share single sex overnight accommodation with girls while not telling their parents.
• Concentrated, well funded attempts to change the law so that a man can become a woman legally on nothing more than his say so.
• Knowing that while fewer than 5,000 people currently have a GRC, there are now 500,000 people under Stonewall's umbrella, any of whom would and could get a GRC if the law changes.
• The harm done if crimes committed by men are recorded as being committed by women.

And that's just a handful of the frankly bonkers things that are going on, with the general public largely oblivious. I remember why it matters and I'm fired with energy all over again.

Relevant live webchat going on RIGHT NOW til 10pm if anybody can formulate a question:

Nadia Sawalha and Kaye Adams on the dark side of social media - Webchat Wednesday 9pm

Thank you @pombear, It would be quite something to see a trans banned for calling out those can't be named

There seems to be an increase in postings which consider that child protection issues are being destroyed in the UK.

Maybe mumsnet could start a campaign?

A friend’s daughter developed anorexia - initially through contact with Vegan websites where more and more foods were ‘outlawed’ so she would ‘err on the safe side’ by avoiding most food for feared being condemned by her new online ‘family’ (her mum cooked her vegan meals). In the end she was hospitalised. Her road to recovery only really started once all forms of internet access was removed. It is not that the vegan diet is a problem but the posters on some of these sites weren’t worried about eating animals...

The news has just mentioned multiple cases of child abuse at Aston Hall. I believe it was a police officer who stated something like that could not happen on the same scale today due to child safeguarding and the rights and responsibilities of the child and round the child.

Having read this thread and others similar and given the fact that the major authority structures of society are advocating agreement with the trans agenda which I'd pushing children towards a life of medication, surgery and sterility. When child abuse is this open and government supported I have no confidence that another sexual abuse scandal within education, a children's home or a community would be noticed and actioned and feel ashamed about the actions of adults and sorry for all those unidentified children.

There seems to be an increase in postings which consider that child protection issues are being destroyed in the UK.

And it's happening at a time when the institutions have been hollowed out and weakened by austerity (and before that, neoliberal contracting out).

It's a double whammy.

If people have worries about registered charities’ behaviour from a safeguarding perspective: now is a very good time to report these. there is currently a dedicated team at the Charity Commission looking at safeguarding reports about charities:

www.gov.uk/government/news/regulator-provides-update-on-work-of-its-interim-safeguarding-taskforce

The Charity Commission also wrote to all charities in England and Wales setting out steps for them to take around safeguarding in December 2017- these are non-optional and need to be addressed within one year: www.gov.uk/government/news/regulatory-alert-to-charities-safeguarding