Male teachers could supervise girls changing under new NSPCC guidance for schools.
The child protection charity has now removed a policy which required adults supervising pupils as they change to be the same sex as the children.
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Campaigners and MPs have now accused the charity of making the change under pressure from trans rights activists.
The NSPCC’s previous long-standing policy said: “Adults who are supervising children getting changed should be of the same gender as them.”
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But the children’s charity has now removed the line in its latest “safeguarding considerations for changing rooms” briefing, according to the Daily Mail.
The NSPCC said it made the change after a similar change from the Department for Education (DfE), but the Government denied this and said no such guidance was removed.
The charity later said the change was based on a “variety of sources”, the newspaper reported.
Woman’s rights campaigners have argued the charity made the move to avoid “offending trans activists” after the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling.
Joy Morrissey, the Shadow Equalities Minister, said the NSPCC policy shift was “completely unacceptable”.
“Male staff should not be supervising young girls while they are getting changed and nor should female staff be supervising young boys,” she said.
“That is just common sense.
“The Government needs to urgently review this guidance and ensure there are clear safeguards for sex-based supervision.
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“We must put the safety and wellbeing of children first.”
Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, said the NSPCC was trying to “pass the buck” after the landmark Supreme Court judgement which clarified the Equality Act refers to biological sex.
She said: “This NSPCC guidance was never about equality law, or even the Supreme Court judgment.
“It was common-sense guidance, based on years of experience about how to safely supervise children changing.”
Ms Forstater said the charity was now failing to protect children and instead doing “what trans activists would prefer”.
She added: “As the leading UK body for the safeguarding of children, what is the NSPCC for if not to do its utmost to protect children?
“It appears instead to have decided that the safer route is to avoid offending trans activists, even if that puts the safety, privacy and dignity of children at risk.”
The NSPCC said it did not change any policies because of pressure from activist groups and could change guidance again once more direction from the Equality and Human Rights Commission is given.
A spokesman for the charity said the guidance was updated to “reflect the latest version of the DfE statutory guidance for schools”.
“It is categorically untrue to say that any updates to the NSPCC’s information briefing were made as a result of external lobbying,” he added.
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