The Telegraph is reporting exclusively this morning that girls at a school in Essex were sexually abused by boys in gender-neutral toilets.
According to reporters Hayley Dixon and Louisa Clarence-Smith:
A school has called in police over allegations that female pupils were sexually assaulted in its gender-neutral lavatories.
A teenage boy has been arrested over four allegations of “serious sexual assault” at the Essex school. The Daily Telegraph understands three of the alleged attacks took place in lavatories used by boys and girls.
The case has led MPs and campaigners to question the safety of mixed-sex lavatories and changing rooms days before the Government is expected to release its transgender guidance for schools.
The guidance is expected to say that students should not be allowed to use facilities designed for the opposite sex, but the advice on mixed-sex lavatories remains unclear.
The school, which is not being named by the Daily Telegraph to protect the identity of the victims, had not carried out an impact assessment on the provision of gender-neutral lavatories.
It could not answer questions on whether other lavatories which are designated male or female could be accessed on the basis of
biological sex or a pupil’s gender identity because it does not have a written policy.
Miriam Cates, the Tory MP and former teacher, said: “Gender-neutral facilities are a threat to the safety of women and girls because they create a private space hidden from the public view where assaults cannot be witnessed.
“Whilst, of course, the vast majority of males do not mean females any harm, the few who do will inevitably seek to take advantage of the opportunity that gender-neutral facilities present to commit offences.
“I very much hope that the new DfE guidance will make clear that gender-neutral facilities are a safeguarding risk and should not be allowed in schools.”
Schools are required to provide separate lavatories for children aged eight and over, but a recent report by the Policy Exchange think tank found that 28 per cent were failing to do so.
