Mixed changing room - is this considered ok these days?

I use the women only sessions in East London - always very busy with those from a religious background.

This is one of the reasons why, not so long ago, many swimming pools and leisure centres had women only slots. All of that has gone by the wayside now, of course. The "women only" slots might still exist, but they are now open to anyone who identifies as a woman, making them essentially useless to the women they were originally intended for.

It's impossible to look over the top of the cubicles in every changing room I've been in.

If you were a devout enough Muslim to care about gender segregation in the changing room, you'd be a devout enough Muslim to care even more about mixed-sex swimming, and wouldn't do it. A single sex changing room would make no difference.

Don't suddenly pretend you care about this issue to make your point, because I don't think you properly understand it at all.

What, being able to look over the top of cubicles, even as a small woman?

Not in any local authority leisure centre I have ever seen.

This sort of facility has been the norm in local authority leisure centres for at least 40 years.

At my local pool (not in the UK) all the changing facilities, toilets and showers are mixed sex, with the exception of a small number of enclosed shower cubicles.

Men have to wear Speedo type swimwear so obviously it doesn't leave much to the imagination, but I haven't witnessed any inappropriate behaviour. In the showers people just have a quick lather with soap (with their swimwear on) and then leave. Everyone minds their own business.

But the changing cubicles are pretty much floor to ceiling. There are small gaps under the doors and someone who was really motivated could stick a phone underneath, but you certainly can't see over the tops of the doors and walls, and you wouldn't be able to see anything underneath unless you lay on the floor and stuck your head under the door, which would be very obvious and attract the attention of staff and other swimmers. I think it would be better if there was some single sex changing space available but I probably wouldn't use it personally. If it feels safe enough to use the mixed space when I am with my children, I can't imagine I'd feel differently if I were on my own and there was a women only space available.

What sounds really inappropriate about your setup is being able to see into the cubicles. I wouldn't like that at all.

All our local pools have become mixed changing areas. When the kids were small and we went as a family it worked as we could use a family cubicle and me and husband could get changed while the other looked after the kids. But I still believe there should also be separate single sex spaces for changing and showering. At one leisure centre there had to be rules displayed saying not to be naked in any communal areas. There had been instances of men showering naked in the communal showers while families/children/women were also showering.

So let's not be dismissive about safety concerns in mixed changing. We know it is risky for women and children.

When I was 16 and swimming alone with mixed sex changing someone put a mirror under the cubicle (thankfully before smart phones). When I spoke to reception they said it happened all the time and that some men brought drills in to make holes in the side panels.

When I was 21 I asked a man in his 70s for help to work the lockers in a different mixed changing room. He then swam up and down with me talking. Once I was in the deep end he grabbed me and pushed his tongue in my mouth. I swam off and proceeded to have the longest swim of my life whilst he watched from the showers waiting for me to get out. I thought about telling a life guard but I was self conscious and didn't want to stand nearly naked talking to a young man about what had happened. Eventually he got bored and left. It makes me so cross that I can't encourage my daughters to go swimming by themselves as they become older and more independent.

And don't get me started on the Butlins changing village with mixed sex toilets "designed with Mumsnet" the sign says. Not with the members of this board I always think!

I’m a 6ft tall woman and I have to be careful in some changing rooms because I can easily peer down into the next cubicle. Plus my chest is often level with the top of the door so I have to change in this weird knees bent position.

I'm not sure how all these pools get away with the religious discrimination? Because that's very much what they're doing.

Left wing progressives at least pretend to care about that (even if they don't give a shit about sexual assault of women and children).

This still excludes Muslims and many other religious groups and others who can't used mixed sex. Is that ok? Why can't they have single sex spaces to include these people too?

My local council run pool has a changing village. It's made very clear through signage and layout that there is no nudity allowed outside the cubicles. The whole set up is row of cubicles, row of locker, row of cubicles..l.l there is no space where you could feasibly get changed outside of the cubicles. At the end there are 3 large family rooms. Everything is floor to ceiling walls and lockable doors.

So even though it is mixed sex, it feels safe. If the cubicles could be seen over or under then I wouldn't use it.

I don't have an issue with mixed sex change rooms, in fact I prefer as it takes away the whole argument about allowing trans women (men) in women only spaces.

The issue is the cubicle height the OP mentioned. Cubicles should be fully enclosed or at least have high enough doors and bars over the top to prevent people being able to see over.

Not sure why it's so difficult for people to understand why the OP has an issue with cubicles where people can see over the door!!

We do quite a few festivals and usually the portaloos at least in the main arenas are all separate male and female, granted the general campsite portaloo blocks and showers are unisex which is why we sold the tent and bought a camper van! I don’t want me or my partner to have to deal with a, more than likely drunk random male on a late night toilet run. Same for showers, I want a female only space and now we have that in our van. So no you can enjoy festivals and still retain the safety and dignity women want and need, it just means women have to pay more to guarantee their safety, while men get to do what the fuck they like for free!

Thinking of the local pools in my area, all the ones I can remember are single sex, including pools built in the last 15 years. There was one that was a mixed sex changing village but it closed several years ago. It had single sex and family rooms too though.

I wouldn't use mixed sex facilities. There should be a choice to cater to parents with opposite sex children, but fully enclosed, not the half door you've described. There is no way that I'd undress myself or a child in an area where men had their phones out. They must be losing so much business over this - how can they possibly think it's inclusive?!

The gym I use has several signs both in and out of the locker rooms; 'Any males over 8 years old in the Ladies facilities must be reported to management immediately.' I'm comfortable with my teenage daughters using it, for that reason.

Of the ones I know, so this is anecdotal to my area of England, all the pools that are part of a school and then used outside of school time for the public, these all have single sex facilities. So maybe try one of those. Good luck, swimming is great for you, so worth finding one.

My local pool has a large mixed sex changing room and showers but it’s all lockable cubicles including large family changing rooms. There’s no reason for anyone to not be appropriately dressed. in four years going twice a week there’s never been an issue and I am hyper vigilant - I’ve had to report inappropriate males in the teaching pool.
that being said, if your not comfortable then don’t use this pool and email management and tell them there’s absolutely no reason to have such open cubicles in a mixed sex space. They won’t change unless they know it’s an issue

I would absolutely hate this. In fact I don’t think I could use such a changing facility.

I can't believe you have such a lack of empathy.

Because of my job and hobby (swimming) I have visited about 20 pools this past year. Just working through the changing facilities now in my head, about 10 are single sex, 10 are changing villages.