Unisex toilets in new office - dread going into work

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Collinson-3/publication/240729852_It's_Only_Dick'_The_Sexual_Harassment_of_Women_Managers_in_Insurance_Sales/links/54ea05280cf2f7aa4d565907/Its-Only-Dick-The-Sexual-Harassment-of-Women-Managers-in-Insurance-Sales.pdf

Accepting sexual harassment as normal is a huge part of the problem.

I had the joy of using ‘inclusive’ toilets in several Manchester restaurants. Absolutely hated them. The shared sinks were outside so all men and women using them simultaneously. My DH likewise felt uncomfortable. The only winners are the property developers who can use less floor space for toilets now and men who enjoy making women feel uncomfortable.

I hate sharing toilets with men including the ones who miss the toilet when they piss. Let alone having young misogynistic men sexually harassing women. By law they have to have training on what is SH in the workplace but the danger is that by complaining they escalate to other behaviour.

This happened at a friends workplace. Most of the staff were not happy and the company did change things. You all need to get together and make it clear you won’t accept it.

I would bloody hate this! YANBU. I hope you complain about the sexual harassment.

This happened at our new office. After about 2 months they changed them. Men and women were unhappy with the set up. We still have one lot of unisex per floor, but a separate men and women per floor too.

Edited to add. Ours were floor to ceiling cubicles with sink in the cubicle. Imagine if you wanted to rinse a moon cup or something in the sink. Really unacceptable they are breaking the law.

Get all the women together and tell your employer that you will all be working from home until they sort out the toilet facilities in the office.

My DM wouldn't have accepted this situation at her workplace in the 1960s. I've been working for 32 years and wouldn't accept it when I was 17 and washing up in a pub. It's nothing to do with modern life, it has always been unacceptable.

Read the OP they are not like that, they have shared sinks.

Read the OP they are not like that, they have shared sinks.

What makes you think these aren't fully enclosed cubicles with sinks?

I voted YABU because I don't think there's anything wrong with unisex toilets but I certainly don't think it's reasonable to have to put up with crude or inappropriate comments. I'd report every single one.

Just to add to the "this is illegal" there is also, hidden away in the HASAWA if a workplace is not safe then you have a legal right to not be in that workplace.

The only exceptions are the armed forces.

Your employer should have done a risk assessment before you moved in but they can still do one now.

Do you have an incident book? It is similar to an accident book but you record things like near misses and the comments in the toilets.

I would be:

Asking to see the HASAW policy, if your business has over 5 people then there must be one.

Telling them the workplace is not safe your you so you will be working at home until it is.

How condescending

Is misogynistic language a crime yet? At the very least, it's sexual harassment.

Go to GR.
If HR won't listen, go to the police regarding aforementioned harassment. The company would hopefully not want a public image problem.

Why does anyone think unisex is a good idea? Men having their gross, 15 minute poos and women unsticking sanitary towels....why ever combine the two?

Ffs. There’s always one. 🙄

Even if op took on board your stella suggestions, are you saying it’s reasonable for her to have to do youth work every time she needs a shit or changes her tampon? Is it always the woman who has to do the cajoling and educating when she’s confronted by unreasonable male behaviour in the toilet? “Just deal with it” - is that it? Distressing and annoying male behaviour when you least want it, but ‘just deal with it’?

What a gift of empathy you are to the sisterhood. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Your employer is unlawfully discriminating against you on the grounds of sex. Unisex toilets disadvantage women. They also don't meet the Workplace Regulations 1992.

Find a solicitor, and threaten proceedings under the Equality Act 2010. J K Rowling's fund may pay your legal fees:

https://jkrwf.org/

The bottom line is your employer is going to have to move to a different building; are you prepared to put in the hard work to make it happen?

Your company has 2 problems: the unisex toilets and the twats. Don’t give up until both are sorted.

This - what happened when you reported the spotty young one for asking you to join him? I'm assuming you did? Because that's blatant sexual harassment and needs to be dealt with. Your office has a misogyny problem, not a toilet one, if you're hearing comments like that regularly.

Edit: "Offices" I suppose, but I can't see a situation where I wouldn't follow that spotty lad back to the office / knock on the door and speak to a manager/email them about an employee who made that comment. OP: What did you do about it?

'I refuse to believe any company would point blank refuse to deal with this issue'

You would be amazed at some of the outfits operating out there.

Their faces on the first day of the tribunal though 🤣🤣🤣. They always turn on their handmaidens' too.

The schools are breaking the law but its a different act

Read the full provision of what is required for washing areas:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/3004/regulation/21

Washing facilities
21.—(1) Suitable and sufficient washing facilities, including showers if required by the nature of the work or for health reasons, shall be provided at readily accessible places.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), washing facilities shall not be suitable unless—
(a)they are provided in the immediate vicinity of every sanitary convenience, whether or not provided elsewhere as well;
(b)they are provided in the vicinity of any changing rooms required by these Regulations, whether or not provided elsewhere as well;
(c)they include a supply of clean hot and cold, or warm, water (which shall be running water so far as is practicable);
(d)they include soap or other suitable means of cleaning;
(e)they include towels or other suitable means of drying;
(f)the rooms containing them are sufficiently ventilated and lit;
(g)they and the rooms containing them are kept in a clean and orderly condition; and
(h)separate facilities are provided for men and women, except where and so far as they are provided in a room the door of which is capable of being secured from inside and the facilities in each such room are intended to be used by only one person at a time.

I read a story the other day that an aid agency was upset that its brand new toilets weren’t being used. Women refugees would rather defecate in their tents than go to the toilets as they thought it too dangerous to be in a cubicle with men around. That’s an extreme example, but it shows men harass women at toilets around the world and women change their behaviour because of it.

Toilets outside the home are usually divided by sex, all over the world, for very good reasons.

The building owner needs to be informed. I can understand the reticence of your boss as they probably are still reeling from organising the move, but this is not on. The employer has responsibility for the health and safety of his/her employees.

I would disagree with some posters and say the issue is that they are an unregulated unisex design. Young laddish men are known for pratting about in toilets when women are using them. That’s why a lot of schools have resorted to restricting use when they have unisex toilets.

The template letters on here might be useful for you OP.

www.letwomenspeak.org/toilet-letters

Both.

The issue here isn’t unisex toilets, it’s the disgusting behaviour of the men using it.

This behaviour needs reporting regardless of whether it was made in a bathroom or other space.

Yep nice rapist and nice violent men and nice perverts never work in offices.

And the nice perverts who happen to work in the OPs office and who are being abusive to the OP....... yup..... she is just being too sensitive.