JERSEY’S Children’s Commissioner has urged a politician to withdraw his controversial proposal on gender identity guidance in schools until a fuller assessment of its impact on children’s rights is carried out.
Later this month, the States Assembly is set to debate a proposition from Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache which, if approved, would replace the current trans inclusion guidance for schools with a document endorsed by the Jersey branch of the Women’s Rights Network.
But Children’s Commissioner Carmel Corrigan said the proposition should not proceed in its current form and recommended it be withdrawn until a more thorough children’s rights impact assessment is completed.
“Given the short timeframe for lodging and debating proposals prior to election, the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for Jersey respectfully recommends that this proposal is withdrawn until such time as a more thorough children’s rights impact assessment can be undertaken,” wrote Dr Corrigan.
She warned that the existing assessment accompanying the proposition did not adequately examine several key children’s rights.
Those concerns centred particularly on issues such as non-discrimination, children’s participation in decisions affecting them, and their access to information.
The commissioner also warned that the way the proposal interprets children’s rights may place too much emphasis on adult authority while failing to properly recognise children’s evolving capacity to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
Under the UNCRC, she noted, children’s best interests must be balanced with their right to express their views and have them taken seriously.
Dr Corrigan’s letter also raised concerns that the proposal’s children’s rights impact assessment recorded no engagement with children or young people themselves, despite the proposal directly affecting how schools respond to gender identity issues.
The commissioner said this absence of consultation represents “a significant gap in compliance” with the convention’s requirements on children’s participation.
The Education Minister has also urged fellow politicians to reject the proposition, warning that the proposal contains “many flaws and inaccuracies” and risks undermining children’s rights and safeguarding practices.
Deputy Rob Ward said the existing trans-inclusion guidance for schools had been developed collaboratively with educators, parents and agencies, and remains “an important resource for schools” when a child raises questions about their gender identity.
“The evidence provided above clearly shows that this proposition and the proposed document both contain many flaws and inaccuracies,” he wrote.
Treating all disclosures of gender questioning as safeguarding concerns and imposing blanket restrictions would contradict Jersey’s child-centred safeguarding model, he said.
Deputy Ward added: “Children’s rights have not been considered fully, instead it has been done selectively to suit the proposer’s agenda.”
He also rejected claims that the current policy excludes parents, insisting the guidance encourages schools to work closely with families while allowing for confidentiality where safeguarding issues arise.
The minister said he had been “overwhelmed by the many heartfelt emails which describe the negative effect this proposition has had just by being lodged, let alone the thought of it being accepted”.
Deputy Ward also warned that elements of the proposed guidance could clash with the Island’s discrimination law, which protects people undergoing gender reassignment.
Under the law, a transgender person includes anyone proposing to undergo, undergoing or having undergone a gender reassignment process – regardless of whether medical treatment is involved.
Deputy Ward concluded that the existing guidance remains “fit for purpose”, adding that Jersey will continue to monitor developments in England before considering any future updates.
