M&S Colchester claim mixed changing is ‘completely safe’ for women.

M&S isn't breaking the law. They're under no obligation to provide single sex changing rooms. Unisex changing rooms are legal provided that they meet certain conditions such as having lockable doors and that they are not marked as being single sex.

If they do provide single sex changing rooms which are marked as such, they are not allowed to direct men into the women's, or vice versa.

Regardless though, she is arguing with the wrong person on this point. She needs to talk to head office.

Her filming him, following him shouting about having to change with men is totally over the top and the wrong way to make a point. In no way is her behaviour reasonable, even if her underlying point is.

They aren't breaking the law and this is a huge misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the recent updated guidance that I keep seeing repeated.

The guidance states that if you're offering a single sex service this needs to be based on biological sex, however it does not mandate that service providers have to provide single sex service, it is still entirely legal to offer gender neutral provision.

It is NOT breaking the law. There's no law that says all shops selling clothes have to have changing rooms at all, or, if they do that they have to be sex-specific.

The law has (after the recent SC ruling) been confirmed to specify that IF a relevant facility (e.g. a changing room/toilet) claims to be single sex THEN that refers to biological sex. So IF the M&S changing rooms had a sign saying 'Female' THEN they should be for biological women only. If the changing rooms say 'Gender neutral' or similar, which apparently they do in the shop in the video, then anyone can use them and nobody is breaking the law.

Unfortunately this was always going to be a foreseeable likelihood of GC campaigning - it's always going to be cheaper and easier to just make everything GN than either build a third set of facilities (or fourth if including accessible facilities for people with disabilities) and/or strictly enforce who accesses which ones.

Think about it for a second - there have always been shops that don't have any changing rooms at all, and ones that have one changing room or toilet (again this also meets legal guidance as long as they are completely enclosed, e.g. sink and toilet behind one closable door) for everyone - did you assume they'd just been happily breaking the law for decades?

Maybe check your facts first?

Two is exactly the right number to have 1 for female and 1 for male.
No extra expense incurred there?!

No, that's being naive

Check out XNXX or VoyeurHit or xHamster or XVideos or TNAFlix or any other of the myriad of sites that offer videos of women and girls undressing in mixed sex changing rooms and using mixed sex toilets

I worked for them for years and am so disappointed by all of this.

The large department stores do this because they are short staffed. Think back to 5 years ago. Most of them had a children’s fitting room, at least 2 ladies fitting rooms, a lingerie fitting room and a men’s. Now they just usually have 2 open for everyone.

It’s got nothing to do with big departments being inclusive and everything to do with cutting costs.

That's the problem: it's mixed sex. Well done for noticing.

Never, because I’m not that paranoid?

Is there actually a man in there, it isn't clear from the video?

If there is, I'd see it very differently - he's ineffectual and dismissive. If there isn't and the changing room is as empty as the shop looks, then she's spoiling for a fight and it's a bit cringe, she shouldn't be picking on him and putting it online.

Women have been unhappy about the changing rooms in M&S for some time. And have complained about it in the acceptable ways suggested here. Nothing has changed.

Meanwhile, men regularly boast about their experience trying on underwater, womens clothes and being fitted for bras.

I do feel a bit of sympathy for this man, even though he was dismissive and has no customer services skills. But at it has gained attention that other complaints haven't.

Or the man in usual male attire who just exited the cubicle. Because it's mixed sex.

@FinchiePink he's hardly being 'harangued'.

M&S policy is breaking the law. Women have a right to single sex spaces. When she politely tries to point that out to him he dismisses her with, 'take it up with head office,' turns his back on her and swiftly walks away.

When she tries to explain her perfectly reasonable position, he literally accuses her of being 'abusive,' calls her 'madam' in a sneery way and tries to kick her out of the store.

It's fortunate that she was filming what happened, because asking him a question after he turns his back on her and storms off is hardly 'abuse'.

You go into a wide corridor of monitored rooms. Lock the door behind you and changed.

At what stage do you sweep the cubicle for the hidden camera placed there by the man in a dress who just exited the cubicle?

Because it is, ffs.

You go into a wide corridor of monitored rooms. Lock the door behind you and changed.

I don't know if it 'never happens' with pre-teen boys. I imagine that, and worse, happens to boys as well.

The point is it's the men doing it, whether it's in a mixed-sex changing room (which they are allowed in if it's labelled correctly) or in a single-sex changing room (which needs to be correctly labelled and monitored). If men are allowed in to female single sex changing rooms, that is illegal. If a man has installed a hidden camera in any of these places, that's illegal.

The point is, it's the men doing it. If you don't want a man secretly filming your child, deal with the men. The solution is not to just make everything mixed sex and throw up our hands and hope for the best.

He turns his back on her and storms off, when she's trying to raise a perfectly reasonable concern.

He walks off, certainly. And she may be trying to raise a perfectly reasonable concern, but she's not doing it in a reasonable way or to the right person. We also have no idea what went on before she decided to start filming.

He could easily have said, "I'm sorry you feel that way but it's our national policy. If you'd like to make a complaint then may I ask you to do x,y,z."

What exactly do you think he's doing when he says "if you need to take it up with head office, please see them"?

he says, "it's perfectly safe" which simply isn't true.

I agree, but one ignorant statement from him doesn't necessitate him being followed and harangued about something he doesn't have the power to change.

@FinchiePink are we watching the same video? He's really rude and condescending. He turns his back on her and storms off, when she's trying to raise a perfectly reasonable concern.

He could easily have said, "I'm sorry you feel that way but it's our national policy. If you'd like to make a complaint then may I ask you to do x,y,z."

Instead he says, "it's perfectly safe" which simply isn't true. We know transwomen have masturbated in the women's changing rooms at M&S because they have shown off about it on social media.

We know that transwomen have hidden cameras in women's changing rooms.

We know that 62% of transwomen in prison in the UK have convictions for rape or sexual assault.

He's condescending to her because she describes a transwoman as a man, and he's obviously one of the minority of people in the UK who thinks a trans identified man is a type of woman.

How would you protect your pre teen son from the same thing happening? Or does than ‘never happen’?

I thank the lord that filming people wasn't really a thing when I was working at Asda. It was an absolute nightmare when the carrier bag charge came in.

"Why are you forcing me to buy a bag?"

"Those are the new govt rules, I'm afraid you'd have to take it up with them" (Firstly, I'm not making you do anything, secondly you're not being forced to buy a bag, there are other options open to you)

"Why are you forcing me to buy a bag??"

Agree.

Firstly, as much as I agree they should, they don't legally have to provide changing rooms at all, let alone female only ones. If you disagree with that the way to impact relevant shops is to not to buy stuff from them rather than blaming a random employee for not risking being sacked by going against company policy.

I can't imagine anyone has ever said "well I did think X but after being shouted at, filmed and slagged off online I thought wow the opposite side might actually have a point and completely changed my mind!"

if indeed it is a mixed SEX fitting room then that should be made very obvious and M&S should state that as policy they are unable to provide single SEX fitting rooms so customers can choose to shop there or not.

They do provide single sex ftting rooms. But only for the men.

I've worked in customer service roles before and would absolutely hate it when people would take their aggression out on me. I 100% agree that single sex spaces are important, nevertheless, what does this woman expect the shop worker to do about it? She is aggressive, annoying and actually out of line for filming this man and plastering his face all over social media.

Are the changing rooms fully enclosed, of do they have gaps at the top or bottom?

I'd question that they are staffed the whole time. Unusual staff have to get other sizes for people of take clothes back to the racks.

It isn't illegal as long as it is mixed sex and doesn't exclude heterosexual men.