The Department of Education recently ran a consultation on proposed changes to the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ (KCSIE) statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England. The draft, revised safeguarding guidance includes new sections addressing ‘children who are questioning their gender’, single-sex spaces and single-sex sports. Once finalised, this will be the main document that schools and colleges use when considering their safeguarding responsibilities for trans+ children and children who are questioning their gender.  

Galop has challenged the proposed guidance and highlighted its failure to properly address significant safeguarding risks for trans+ children, such as domestic abuse, conversion practices and ‘honour’-based abuse. We’re particularly concerned by its suggestion that there are very limited, if any, circumstances in which a school or college can support a child with a ‘social transition’ request without involving a parent or carer.

What is Galop’s position?

As a frontline, anti-abuse charity with a specialist children and young people’s advocacy service, we know that schools and colleges can be a safe space for some trans+ children to seek support – especially those who are experiencing abuse at home.

If the guidance is implemented in its current form, it will obstruct the ways schools and colleges can support trans+ children and children who are questioning their gender. The changes also risk trans+ children feeling forced to hide an important part of themselves and not turning to trusted adults for support.

We are concerned that the proposed guidance is establishing an unhelpful framework that empowers schools and colleges to refuse children’s requests to affirm their gender identity and ‘socially transition’, rather than focusing on providing useful assistance to schools and colleges about how they can best include and support trans+ children and children who are questioning their gender.

There should not be a blanket prohibition on children with unsupportive families taking steps to affirm their gender at school or college. Preventing ‘social transition’ is an intervention that can have serious and long-term consequences.  

How did we respond to the consultation?

Galop’s response focused on our expertise and frontline experience of supporting LGBT+ children and young people who have experienced abuse or violence.  

We strongly disagree with the guidance’s framing that there will only be ‘rare circumstances’ where involving parents/carers would constitute a greater risk to the child than not involving them. Galop’s 2022 research showed that 29% of LGBT+ people surveyed had experienced abuse from a family member or members, and 63% were under 18 when they first experienced abuse from their family. 43% of trans and non-binary people surveyed had experienced higher levels of abuse from a family member or members. The most common perpetrators of the abuse were parents.

We recommended that changes be made to the KCSIE guidance to:

• address the increased risk of abuse for some LGBT+ children, including a new section on conversion practices

• include clearer signposting to specialist support services for LGBT+ children and their families  

• provide greater guidance to schools and colleges about how they should assess whether involving parents or carers would create risk to a child’s safety

• refer schools and colleges to relevant legal data protection requirements and clearly state that some children have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment

• use terminology that LGBT+ young people use to describe their gender identity and sexual orientation  

What’s next?

The results of the consultation, the government’s response, and updated KCSIE guidance will be published later this year.

Galop will continue to support LGBT+ young people who are experiencing abuse, and we will continue our advocacy to ensure that schools and colleges are supported to provide environments where all LGBT+ young people can thrive.