Thursday 6 October 2022 04:58 PM Mermaids closes its helpline and webchat service saying it has received ... trends now
Transgender charity Mermaids closed its helpline and webchat service today saying it has received 'intolerable abuse'.
It comes after a trustee quit over revelations he spoke at an 'academic' conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles.
JK Rowling then challenged transgender television presenter India Willoughby to sue her in a Twitter spat after she blasted celebrities for backing Mermaids.
Now the charity has taken to its social media page to announce the decision to close its helpline and webchat in order 'to protect our dedicated staff and volunteer team'.
The post read: 'Due to intolerable abuse, we have made the decision to close the helpline and webchat services for the rest of today and tomorrow.
'Next week, to enable us to take all volunteers off the rota, we will reduce hours to 9am to 6pm only.
'We do not make this decision lightly, but our duty of care towards staff and volunteers necessitates a harm reduction approach to protect our dedicated staff and volunteer team.
'We hope to be able to resume normal working hours as soon as possible.'
Transgender charity Mermaids closed its helpline and webchat service today saying it has received 'intolerable abuse'
It comes after JK Rowling challenged transgender television presenter India Willoughby to sue her in a Twitter spat after she blasted celebrities for backing Mermaids
Dr Jacob Breslow sensationally quit as a trustee of Mermaids after it emerged he had spoken at an 'academic' conference hosted by an organisation that promotes services to paedophiles
Ms Rowling previously took a thinly veiled swipe at Emma Watson and other celebrities who backed the charity after a trustee quit in a paedophile row.
Mermaids trustee Dr Jacob Breslow presented research at an event in Baltimore in 2011, which appeared to criticise societal understanding of paedophiles, while the charity also recently came under fire amid accusations of giving chest-flattening devices to young girls against their parents' wishes.
The Harry Potter author said the charity had achieved unprecedented influence in the UK with the help of 'certain corporations and celebrities' who boosted them despite 'red flags'.
But Ms Willougby slammed the author, tweeting: 'Someone really needs to take legal action against JK Rowling.
'This is off the scale. The GC tactic seems to be to drown the trans charity Mermaids in a tsunami of innuendo and lies - throw a stack of mud, some of it will stick.'
Ms Rowling responded that she would be the first to sign any petition against her.
She responded: 'India, I swear to God, if you want to start a petition for Mermaids to take me on in court, the first signature will be mine.'
Celebrities who have publicly backed Mermaids include the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry Potter star Emma Watson and Jameela Jamil.
Ms Willoughby (pictured) slammed the author, tweeting: 'Someone really needs to take legal action against JK Rowling'
Ms Rowling responded that she would be the first to sign any petition against her
The Twitter spat comes after a series of tweets on Tuesday evening in which Ms Rowling wrote: 'We've now learned that Mermaids appointed a paedophilia apologist as Trustee and that their online moderator encouraged kids to move onto a platform notorious for sexual exploitation. This is a charity that's achieved
