Nobody should be forced to touch another person's genitals.
How on earth have we, by which I mean the western world generally, got to a place where this is even up for debate?
I am also very, very concerned as to where we are headed regarding protections for lone workers.
I was for many years a lone worker, and am only not now because I now work in a shared facility with other service. I am still the only worker from my service on the premises. This is in the public sector to be clear.
When I first started in the late 90s I was told clearly and unambiguously that as a lone worker I had the absolute right to refuse any customer that made me uncomfortable. That I could trust my instincts and that management would always back me up because of my lone worker status.
By 2010 that had changed. I had an incident with a man who continuously behaved inappropriately and who I eventually told to leave the premises. As it happens this man was disabled. Physically, visibly so. When I asked him to leave he made some veiled threats regarding his rights as a disabled person. I contacted management immediately to alert them to the situation expecting them to support me.
Long story short, they did not. His vulnerability trumped mine. This change of position was never discussed with me.
I did not, and do not, wish to refuse service to people, especially those with particular vulnerabilities. But we seem to have lost sight of workers safety in all of this.
The man in question did not come back or pursue the matter as it happens. I'm not sure what would have happened if he had. It bothers me a lot to this day that the rules changed without me ever being informed.