NCB's position paper on gender dysphoria in children and young people, and how to ensure an appropriate response from support services.
Gender dysphoria, and the way it is treated, relate both to children’s health and their rights to be heard and involved in decisions that affect them.
NCB has experience and a body of evidence based on the work we do on children’s health, mental health, education, and care, both with children and young people themselves and the professionals that support them, which can provide insight and clarity in this confusing arena.
NCB’s response speaks to two overarching issues:
Firstly, we are concerned by the reported levels of distress and unmet needs. The Annual Report[1] from the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel found that gender identity issues had been a significant factor in seven child suicides.
Secondly, we are also uneasy about the lack of high-quality evidence and investigation particularly around the disproportionate number of children presenting with gender dysphoria who are also on the autism spectrum, and the higher number of children registered at birth as girls who are seeking treatment.
With this in mind, our paper sets out NCB's position on gender dysphoria and how we can ensure better support is provided by services.
NOTES
[1] Child Safeguarding Practice Review, Annual Report 2020: Patterns in practice, key messages and 2021 work programme, Department for Education 2021.