Muslim women and trans policies in the workplace

The legitimate aim is optional not compulsory and good reason needs to be proven. And I doubt if it has ever been used in regard to toilets.

If you do a crowdfund, OP i would donate. We are women and it is in all womens interests that we retain toilets for single sex use. I am sorry that you are experiencing this. If companies want to be inclusive surely its easy to install one mixed sex / gender neutral toilet. For the tiny portion of their workforce that night need it

OP , thank you for your posts and for starting this thread .
I have no religious faith at all but appreciate that other people do ; I fully respect their faith and support their right to practise .
There are male-bodied people who wish to be perceived as women who are insistent that we women give up our rights to privacy , dignity and safety , and they are coercing some women to give up those rights on behalf of all women .
You , as a woman who upholds Muslim principles , should have access to a space to tend to your female and faith-based needs without concern of male intrusion . Sex and Faith are protected characteristics .
I am reminded of the difficulties we had last millennium in trying to find clean , safe places to change and breastfeed our babies whilst out and about .

I’m not Muslim but I also would not want to share toilet space with men.

I would consider also making contact with Jewish women's organisations as Orthodox Jews face similar problems.

Do you know Nisa nashim?

And as others have said here, I would support you if you launched a crowdfunder.

Welcome to Mumsnet, Betty. I can see you're getting excellent advice, and I know the women commenting here are well qualified and know a lot about the law.

I'm not a Muslim but I too feel very unhappy, and indeed threatened, by men using women's toilets and changing rooms. (I'm saying "men", not transwomen, as your company's policy is to allow self-ID, which is not allowed by law.) You are not being unreasonable.

Best of luck to you.

I am not Muslim. However, I think your employer are discriminating against you (albeit indirectly and not perhaps deliberately). You need what you need and your employer needs to provide that for you. You’re not being unreasonable your employer is. Sorry I can’t help but just wanted to say I don’t think you’re being unreasonable.

Do the MCB have policies/advice for businesses and premises?
I think changes to facilities and the provision of more gender neutral/mixed sex toilets and changing areas is likely to continue and escalate. If this is going to have a negative impact on Muslim women, then it might be very helpful to have a high level of steer and input from a body with recognition and clout.

It’s a good idea to call the MCB but do note they may give you impractical advice to work around the problem instead of a proper fix. For example at my last workplace (similarly global) they advised that a non-Muslim woman should walk in first to see if there were any males in the loo and redirect any males if they tried to enter. It was such stupid advice and led to many muslim women not using the toilets in the building.

In the end it took a complaint from a muslim customer before the workplace made any meaningful changes.

In our organisation we have separate washing areas for Muslim staff. Would this be a solution?

I’m not Muslim but I would be uncomfortable with what your employer is proposing.
Could you ask HR to look into this?

Very sorry to know you and other women are having to deal with this. This is a very clear breach of equality law around religious beliefs to me but I have no idea what recourse you have, other than maybe legal action. Many businesses are captured by transgender ideology and are imposing rules and policies that contravene the law.

Unions are bloody useless as they are captured too and unlikely to help.

It might have to come down to a court case brought by a group of Muslim women like yourself to ensure the Equality Act exemptions that allow for female only toilets are enforced properly.

Hope you will get some good advice from the many knowledgeable posters here. There will be a specific sequence of actions to take first - like a formal complaint to HR etc before resorting to legal stuff, but worth asking some very reputable solicitors who are experienced in employment law and discrimination.

Although I understand that if you and the other women are junior staff, it must feel very intimidating to try to raise these issues.

What an awful position to be in

If you did a crowdfund OP I would donate and share.

This is outrageous and I really hope you challenge it, I hope you find confidence to do so as a group and take it all the way.

If I can I'll share links here later, only if they help, but do take this further. Very keen to know how it goes.

I am appalled that you have been put in this position. Would a letter requesting the policy be reconsidered from 'Muslim women in this office' rather than anyone being named, be a possibility? It should include your unease at no longer having a single sex place to gather, and the coercion involved in this being parachuted in without consultation,

This isn't just about toilet legislation, they are acting in breach of The Equality Act. The single occupancy toilets are really for disabled people, so if they are removing women's toilets and forcing you to use the single occupancy toilets, they are discriminating against;

disabled employees.
Muslim women (and men)
Women.

(Also, toilets designated for the use of women must by law contain a sanitary waste bin.)
Really, ACAS should support you with your complaint but unfortunately they have been captured, so IDK how they would respond.

I would try ACAS first. They are free.
If they refuse to help, I would see if you can find a solicitor who specialises in equality law and discrimination.

Oh yes! MCB is an excellent idea. They've just got a new head honcho. Funnily enough a woman, who may well listen and support you.
Go for it!

You can get half an hour free at most solicitors.
Put some bullet points together from this thread to summarize the issue, and include the actual email wording from the company.
Have a chat with them and see what they suggest. It may be a letter from the solicitors is enough to kick HR I to shape and read the actual legislation rather than the stonewall PR.
That wouldn't cost too much. Or do a crowd funder for it?

Tbh we need a test case of Muslim women's rights in the UK. I know it's a bit scary, but we will all support you.
This is just unacceptable.

How about contacting the Muslim Council of Britain and asking them to contact your employers? They would surely have to take an approach from the MCB more seriously than they did your friend's.

Asking you for consent is a form of coercion

I agree.

You could call the solicitors Leigh and Day as they might support you with approaching your company, to put them right. They do lots of work in this area.
You are right, your company is wrong.