Naked man in communal showers. Totally stark bollock naked.

[tardisgirl68]

Not an AIBU cos really the title says it all. At massive local pool with group of five girls aged 10/11. Luckily they were showering in different area, I was waiting at lockers for them to come back and get changed. Bloke in the shower, nonchalantly steps out of his trunks and made big show of rinsing them out. I did a double take, then the slow burn whilst my brain tried to process what i was seeing . I nabbed a passing lifeguard and said "look!!!!" He was (after getting dressed) frogmarched out and told if he came back in they'd get police involved. Creep. My group of girls saw nothing but that was more luck than anything. shudders

Are you able to give any indication which part of Scotland OP? Roughly?

When I were a nipper, we used to go to a local pool regularly. There was a man there who had very loose trunks, so when he dived in they would descend to his knees. He would spend some time wading about, bits flapping but underwater, so mainly invisible, then hoik them back up, get out and repeat. Despite coming from a nude household, I found this quite fascinating and spent some time underwater observing I naively assumed he was unaware, it was years before I realised he knew exactly what he was doing.

Is this also okay, because it's just nudity?

Not true. I cant wearmy glasses in the pool and if I wa in showers you could be naked, in a coatume, or dressed as a clown and doing a dance for all I could see of you.

Im not fussed about being "outed" . Edinburgh Commy pool.

This isn't normal, at our pools the communal showers have signs to keep swimsuits on, even for children.

Not rtft.

Sniggering at the idea of it being a "cultural misunderstanding" when the guy is Scottish!!

Even he had been from another culture, all the more reason not to offend the locals by careful observation of them in their native habitat. If nobody else is naked - who in their right mind would strip off?

The Commy? Good grief.
Definitely a weirdo if he was strutting about in the skud in a huge place like the Commy which is teeming with kids

Ah ok thanks OP. There was a man behaving oddly in my local pool last week but different city.

I wouldn't associate mixed nudity with sex and molestation. But that's not what happened here.

This was a grown man, observing that others were in their swimsuits, choosing to get out his junk, presumably knowing this wasn't the norm. Hence, it stands to reason that the purpose could have been one outside the norm.

It's possible he likes being looked at. Perve.

OP, did the guy spend an undue amount of time soaping his bits as well?

Good for you OP. I was flashed at multiple times as a kid, including at the local pool, and it's very frightening and upsetting (I'm Scottish btw and no it's not the cultural norm to be naked in public, anywhere).

That's the thing curiousuze, it really REALLY isn't the norm here. And no amount of "genitals dont mean sex" etc etc is going to change that.

I think this was flashing. I'm amazed anyone would give him benefit of the doubt.

I've reported your post anddream as it includes offensive and disablist language. Nothing to do with "political correctness".

Yes, even as an 11 year old I knew there was something very wrong about the situation. Flashers can be cunning, ones who flashed me pretended their swimming trunks came down accidentally, another time when I was walking to school a man pretended he was peeing against a tree as I walked by. I knew both exposed themselves on purpose. So intimidating and scary.

Who cares me and DD2 are too shortsighted to care and DD1 is to sensible to give a flying fuck.

I was flashed a few times as a child. We lived near an alley way - prime flashing territory as was a route to primary school.

Prior to this thread I had no idea what the norm was for mixed showers at swimming pools in the UK. Never been in one. Never given it a moment's thought tbh.

I would, of course, have a quick look round to see what everyone else was doing, & err on the side of 'kit on' - I think that's entirely reasonable as an expectation, & it's - at the least! - a bit oblivious of this chap not to have done so.

All I'm saying is that if this thread was full of people saying 'oh, our pool has a mixed shower, & everyone strips off', it wouldn't astound me particularly. It's just not a set-up I've personally encountered.

So I can envisage a scenario where it could be an honest faux pas, rather than gleeful perving.

Given that just about everyone else agrees that it's understood that you keep your kit on, this is evidently me having led a sheltered life! .

Edinburgh Leisure po

Bugger - Edinburgh Leisure (the name of the council dept that run the fitness stuff ) pools all have signs somewhere saying that showers are to be taken wearing swimwear and not naked. We use Dalry baths and there is definitely a clear sign at the communal, poolside showers.

Both DH and I still shower in front of our DDs (8 & 5), they don't give a shit (one bathroom so would cause chaos in the morning to lock the door), will stop once/if they show any signs of embarrassment. However, if the situation the OP describes was Germany, Sweden then fine but under this circumstance not fine.

Just because I do like to give a legal view on these things...

but it wouldn't be accepted as a legal defence if you were prosecuted for it in a country where public nudity is illegal, as it is here.

I can't speak for Scotland, but in England & Wales it is NOT a crime to be naked in public.

There are only two offences which a naked person can be caught under:

1. Exposure (section 66 SOA 2003) - where it must be proved that the person exposed their genitals "with intention to cause alarm and distress".

Unless he was doing anything particularly provocative, a man taking a shower probably wouldn't fall foul of this.

2. Outraging Public Decency - an old common law offence rarely used now where someone must "commit an act so lewd as to outrage public decency".

Again, arguable that a man taking a shower does not fall under this.

So I am not saying his actions were right or wrong, or indeed whether it is a crime in Scotland - but if he did this in England, it would be perfectly legal. Of course the leisure centre are allowed to evict anyone they like as it is private property.

Seems the law in Scotland is pretty much the same as it is in England: Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 section 8:

Sexual exposure
(1)If a person (“A”)—
(a)without another person (“B”) consenting, and
(b)without any reasonable belief that B consents,
intentionally and for a purpose mentioned in subsection (2), exposes A's genitals in a sexual manner to B with the intention that B will see them, then A commits an offence, to be known as the offence of sexual exposure.

(2)The purposes are—
(a)obtaining sexual gratification,
(b)humiliating, distressing or alarming B.

I believe the Naked Rambler, for example, only has convictions for Contempt of Court (being naked in court) Breach of the Peace (being a pain) and breach of ASBO.

The ASBO was obviously put in place to criminalise walking around in public naked.

Until then, he could not be arrested just for not having clothes on.

This is the kind of thing that interests no-one but me.

A man taking a shower in front of girls and women in a place with signs saying clearly that costumes have to be worn, could be prosecuted. Especially if he did it more than once.

Were there signs at the OP's leisure centre? I missed that.

It is all fact dependant.

I once represented a man who insisted on using the women's changing room, wandering around naked and looking under cubicle doors. He was prosecuted for voyeurism/exposure and quite rightly so. The facts in that case clearly proved that he was intending to cause alarm and distress.

If the facts are as the OP relates it is highly unlikely anyone could prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was "intending to cause alarm and distress" rather than simply wanting to exercise his right to shower naked.

I once took part in a piece of performance art which involved being starkers in the park. I was informed by one of my fellow participants that we wouldn't be arrested for being naked, we would only be arrested if we refused to get dressed and sod off if told to do so by a police officer.

And I have been to some 'ordinary' swimming pools where the showers were single-sex and most of the other swimmers did shower naked.

Finally, as to flashing, I remember being flashed at a couple of times when I was about 10/11, walking home from school with friends. Our reaction was hysterical laughter and shrieking insults at the flasher. I think any kids seeing a man in the situation the OP described, given that they are going to be with friends/parents, are more likely to find it funny than be traumatized, unless their parents spend the rest of the day wringing their hands or getting the pitchforks out.