Draft safeguarding guidance risks harming trans children
New government safeguarding guidance defines emotional abuse whilst simultaneously instructing schools to implement practices that meet that definition against trans students.13 February 2026
Draft safeguarding guidance currently open for consultation presents a troubling contradiction. The government has clearly defined what emotional abuse looks like, yet the same guidance then instructs schools to carry out those exact practices against trans children.
This isn't an accident or oversight. It reflects a wider pattern in which policy ostensibly designed to protect young people is being used instead as a mechanism to enforce a particular ideological position, regardless of the harm caused.
The consultation period is open now. Read the full article to understand what's being proposed and why this matters for the wellbeing of trans young people in schools.