Unisex toilets in new office - dread going into work

I'm sorry but I've worked in companies for 40 years and this has never happened to me or anyone I know. Ditto anyone being raped in the loos. I'm sure it happens, but being raped in work loos in the UK must be pretty low odds.

Look, it’s perfectly reasonable and entirely admirable to insist that there is no sexual harassment in the workplace - or anywhere else, for that matter. But this is a way-people-are-allowed-to-behave issue, not a loos issue. Dealing on a whole company level with any form of workplace harassment is the responsibility of the employer, but in individual instances, each person has the right, and I’d suggest also the duty, to challenge it. In the OP’s original post, a straightforward and assertive ‘Oh, FFS grow up!’ or ‘don’t ever talk to me like that’ would have been both reasonable and sensible. And I’m sorry it seems to offend you all so much, but ‘dreading going to work’ because of the puerile comment of a chap in the neighbouring office is a huge over-reaction.

Actually the ‘it won’t kill you’ is not technically correct. People are more likely to be saved in the event of a medical emergency in the right design of single sex toilet.

If there’s any ambiguity and always in unisex, toilet cubicles/rooms become completely private.

Most places like schools and council offices have defibrillators but you have to know someone has collapsed in order to help them.
Toilets are the place people rush to when they feel ill. The process of elimination can put strain on the body which leads to a medical emergency. People have been left for days in toilets that are private.

Thats why we need single sex toilets. They’re the only ones regulated to have door gaps. They prevent ‘wilful misbehaviour’ and allow some supervision to keep people safe.

I'm sorry but I've worked in companies for 40 years and this has never happened to me or anyone I know. Ditto anyone being raped in the loos. I'm sure it happens, but being raped in work loos in the UK must be pretty low odds.

Look, it’s perfectly reasonable and entirely admirable to insist that there is no sexual harassment in the workplace - or anywhere else, for that matter. But this is a way-people-are-allowed-to-behave issue, not a loos issue. Dealing on a whole company level with any form of workplace harassment is the responsibility of the employer, but in individual instances, each person has the right, and I’d suggest also the duty, to challenge it. In the OP’s original post, a straightforward and assertive ‘Oh, FFS grow up!’ or ‘don’t ever talk to me like that’ would have been both reasonable and sensible. And I’m sorry it seems to offend you all so much, but ‘dreading going to work’ because of the puerile comment of a chap in the neighbouring office is a huge over-reaction.

If this is true, your work place has a misogyny and sexual harassment problem, not a toilet problem.

Exactly this. Stationery cupboards, underground car parks, empty corridors... There are plenty of deserted places around offices that seem far more dangerous to me than a probably frequently visited works toilet.

So if you had a heavy menstrual bleeding, you couldn’t clean up properly without doing so in full view?

Look, it’s perfectly reasonable and entirely admirable to insist that there is no sexual harassment in the workplace - or anywhere else, for that matter. But this is a way-people-are-allowed-to-behave issue, not a loos issue. Dealing on a whole company level with any form of workplace harassment is the responsibility of the employer, but in individual instances, each person has the right, and I’d suggest also the duty, to challenge it. In the OP’s original post, a straightforward and assertive ‘Oh, FFS grow up!’ or ‘don’t ever talk to me like that’ would have been both reasonable and sensible. And I’m sorry it seems to offend you all so much, but ‘dreading going to work’ because of the puerile comment of a chap in the neighbouring office is a huge over-reaction.

If you needed to rinse the back of your skirt, for example?

One of my more senior colleagues has tried escalating things. The owners of the building are adamant the toilets are compliant and any concerns over conduct of employees is for the tenant companies to ‘police’ and nothing to do with them. So they’ve washed their hands of things.

I think next steps is for our company to contact the management of the neighbouring one and ask they address the concerns with their staff.

Those saying go to HR - pointless because the men don’t work for our company.

“Person known to them” does not just mean partner or ex-partner. The remaining 1 in 2 will include male relatives, friends, neighbours etc. so the actual statistic is much higher than 1 in 2. The actual figure is over 90%. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-43128350.amp

One benefit could be that it avoids the massive queues you sometimes get for the Ladies - though providing more women's loos than men's could solve that. I also think that shared facilities might encourage better behaviour though that doesn't seem to be the case here.

I can look after myself, as should every fully functioning adult. I don’t waste time and energy whingeing on social media that childish men are being mean to me in the office loos. And I don’t need to resort to ad hominem insults to make my point.

Our policy is we must be in at least 60% of time so no way to WFH permanently. Manager says there is no resolution possible, they don’t own the building so can’t dictate changes and they’d also be costly/possibly impractical.

That has been put to them but the response was the toilets are not in our rented space and are the responsibility of the landlord. Plus those responsible for the behaviour are outside of the companies remit.

The company isn’t huge, HR matters are dealt with by one or two people. So it’s possible they are wrong.

Absolutely the problem is the men's behaviour. And addressing it as sexual harassment rather than a unisex toilet issue is certainly going to be the most effective, due to the tightened legislation around SH. However, the discussion has predictably moved on to whether unisex toilets are a problem. I can understand why people feel they are. What I struggle with is the investment some posters have on arguing they're not. There isn't any benefit to women of unisex toilets that I can see, so I'm curious as to why people want to defend them.

According to Rape Crisis, 1 in 2 rapes are by a partner or ex partner. Which to your very valid point, means 1 in 2 are not.

Source: https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/

It's not important to me that there are shared facilities but I can see that it can be a perfectly reasonable provision. I think the problem for OP is the inappropriate behaviour of some men and the fact that her employers seem unwilling to tackle it.

It's not important to me that there are shared facilities but I can see that it can be a perfectly reasonable provision. I think the problem for OP is the inappropriate behaviour of some men and the fact that her employers seem unwilling to tackle it.