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The current study aimed to examine the population of girls in two secure children’s homes (SCHs) in the North East of England to consider the impact of menstruation on girls’ physical, mental and emotional wellbeing within secure settings. Gender-responsive approaches and understanding gender differences are central to trauma-informed provision within the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE). Whilst trauma-informed approaches are central, it could be argued that basic gender differences, such as the menstrual cycle, are currently being overlooked within research and practice.

A case file audit examined documentation of 24 girls who were admitted across both sites between January 2022 and January 2023.

Of the sample (n = 24), 50% had information recorded regarding their menstrual cycle during admission assessments. Six girls (25%) disclosed experiencing irregular menstruation. Painful cramping was noted by two girls (8%). One girl (4%) disclosed heavy bleeding, and menorrhagia (abnormal heavy bleeding) was reported for one further girl (4%). One girl (4%) disclosed early onset menarche. Case formulations tended to focus less on girls’ menstrual cycles or the potential impact of this on wellbeing. However, 100% of case formulations considered the potential impact of trauma and/or disrupted attachment on girls’ presentations.

The results indicate the impact of menstrual cycles on girls’ physical, mental and emotional wellbeing may benefit from much further consideration. Implications are presented alongside directions for future research.

In this chapter, we draw on trans-informed theoretical frameworks to provide insights into gender justice and gender democratization in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Our purpose is to illuminate the systemic impact of cisgenderist and cissexist beliefs which refer to the legitimation of birth-assigned gender identity and what this means for embracing a critical project of gender expansiveness in the ECEC classroom. More broadly, we explicate how our engagement with trans studies informs a critique of existing debates about masculinities, boys and male teachers in the early years. We draw on the work of trans scholars in the first part of this chapter to ground an epistemological basis for our understanding of gender expansiveness and masculinities that challenges a cisnormative framing of gender justice in ECEC. In the second part, we draw specifically on scholars in the field who have been pivotal in elaborating what we understand to be gender expansive identities and what this means for thinking about gender justice in the early childhood classroom. In the third part, we reflect on the pedagogical implications of boyhood sissiness through a trans-informed lens and explicate its implications for understanding boys and masculinities in the early years. Finally, we draw on transgender studies-informed perspectives on masculinity which call for ‘de-essentializ[ing] masculinity as grounded in a cis-male body’ (Gottzén & Straube, 2016, p. 217) and explore their implications for re-envisioning masculinities as a gender-transformative project in ECEC.