Daily roundup 22 January: Child abuse, gender, and foster parent

As many as four per cent of adults have engaged with images of child sexual abuse on the internet and 16 per cent of young women receive unwanted sexual requests online each year, academic research reveals. The Guardian reports that the extent of web-facilitated exploitation is detailed in a series of reports for the next strand of hearings at the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay, looking into the role of the internet, which starts today.


Some schools are moving too fast in allowing young girls to be treated as male pupils and vice versa — simply at the child's request, a psychologist at the only NHS clinic in England and Wales for children seeking to change their gender, has warned. The Times reports that Bernadette Wren, consultant clinical psychologist at the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) clinic in London, said schools are rushing to allow pupils to change their names, uniforms and gender pronouns as soon as they "got a whisper that a child might be querying their identity" and this was not in every child's best interests.


A foster parent who could barely speak English has been axed after it was revealed she referred to a disabled boy as "it". The Sun reports that the Asian woman was allowed to take in children by Birmingham City Council for years despite having no formal education and poor command of English. A tribunal has now upheld a move to strike her off a register of carers over fears for the emotional welfare of youngsters in her care.


Governors at an Islamic school have lodged a complaint over a highly critical report. The BBC reports that Ofsted found pupils at the independent Olive Tree Primary School in Luton had to ask for toilet paper and wash their cutlery in toilet sinks. Chair of governors Dr Nurul Islam said a number of issues had been "rectified" and a formal complaint lodged over the report's findings.


An MP has said the harm caused to children after their mothers were given the epilepsy drug sodium valproate is an "extraordinary scandal". The BBC reports that it is thought about 20,000 children in the UK have been left with disabilities caused by valproate since the 1970s. Norman Lamb MP said it was also "extraordinarily distressing" new research suggested medical problems could be passed through generations.


A father arrested for the murder of his eight-year-old daughter posted a photo of her eating pizza on Facebook just minutes before she was allegedly stabbed to death. The Telegraph reports that Bill Billingham, 54, was arrested over the death of his daughter Mylee Billingham after being found at the property with a stab wound to his stomach. Police were called just 15 minutes after the photo of her was uploaded online.