Stoke shopping centres makes all loos unisex

[Kit19]

twitter.com/okbiology/status/1272896045119389698?s=21

It’s not going down well with the women of stoke!

Damnit! It’s not even all loos - it seems just the women’s...again

They need challenging on this by someone. A pre court action letter might suffice to make them see clearly. It's a breach of the EQA because it discriminates against women by not providing something the men have.

Would happily dig.

What Ova said.

So the Ladies toilets are now unisex, what about the men’s?

I don’t understand the logic here. If you feel the need to have a unisex loo and can’t be arsed building an extra one surely the men’s loo is the obvious choice?

For those of us not living in Stoke, the least we can do is write to the council and point out how illegal this is as Ova has mentioned.

Those living nearby should also write to the local business associations and tell them how this will affect their spending habits i.e. going to spend online instead as the local town centre is no longer safe for children and women. Local businesses will be shut down by this (after all it is women who hold the literal purse strings)

@EmperorCovidula

I don’t understand the logic here. If you feel the need to have a unisex loo and can’t be arsed building an extra one surely the men’s loo is the obvious choice?

That would mean getting rid of the urinals. Most men wouldn't like this because it would mean queues are longer and a degree of building work.

Not justifying the above btw this is just how they will have approached it.

Has anyone copied Caroline Criado-Perez into that tweet? She's usually very good about contacting organisations who do this and giving them merry hell.

"The shopping centre's view

Centre director at intu Potteries Alison Niven: "The focus for us has been around making sure we have got full plans and safety measures in place so when we welcome visitors, staff and our teams back to the centre it is safe and welcoming.

"The ladies' toilets will now be unisex to ensure everyone has access to a cubicle." "

The Men's have cubicles, so anyone pursuing a legal challenge to this will wipe the floor with INTU Shopping Centres.

Interesting to note that the decent men do not want this either.

Had I been thinking of going to Stoke for a shopping spree, this would make me go elsewhere.

I don't get the big deal with the urinals. If you're so woke you want to use unisex toilets you should be woke enough to cope with the sight of a bloke pissing.

"men would also be annoyed by blood on the seat" - which is surely why we still BOTH need our own spaces.

intu.co.uk/potteries/news/keeping-you-safe

Into Potteries have a page about keeping you safe now they have re-opened.

Mumsnetters in Stoke: write to them and let them know you cannot trust them to keep you and your children safe from voyeurs and perverts.

They have a list of businesses on their website. You could speak to the managers in store, in person or write to the businesses head office to object.

The Potteries, Stoke is an Intu centre - Intu owns:

Lakeside, Thurrock
Bromley , Glades
Metro centre Gateshead and Eldon Square
Trafford, Manchester and Arndale
Braehead, Glasgow
Broadmarsh, Nottingham
Chapelfield, Norwich
Intu, Derby
Intu Uxbridge
Intu Victoria Nottingham
St David's Cardiff
The Mall, Cribbs Causway
into Watford
Intu Milton Keynes
Intu Merry Hill, Midlands

I'm worried that there will be plans to role it out nationwide.

intu.co.uk/potteries/contact-us

My city is slowly changing to unisex toilets but these are self contained individual toilets that open directly onto the pavement with the sink inside the cubicle. Unisex can be done correctly.

It’s so obvious sexism when they just convert the women toilets that i can’t imagine a women being involved in the decision making.

call

If they do, people are going to increasingly object, vote with their feet and money and a lot more people who work on site are going to become unemployed.

Online shopping and returns will become the norm.

I live in Stoke and have just emailed them to complain.
Shopping around here is dire enough without adding lack of decent toilet facilities to it.

Sproglets

Doesn't Stoke have a big BAME population. This will exclude many women for religious reasons as well.

Honestly! Men don’t want this either.

Our closest Pret only has unisex toilets, when my dad care to visit we went in, he opened the door, swivelled on his heel and walked straight out again and had to hold it in until we could get to Debenhams, why? Because it was full of teenage girls giggling and putting make-up on and he didn’t feel comfortable going to the loo and doing what he needed to do when it was full of young girls.

@LouHotel

My city is slowly changing to unisex toilets but these are self contained individual toilets that open directly onto the pavement with the sink inside the cubicle. Unisex can be done correctly.

It’s so obvious sexism when they just convert the women toilets that i can’t imagine a women being involved in the decision making.

This is happening in a town near me. Single sex loos have been replaced by self contained rooms. This has lead to queues where their were none (because there are fewer toilets overall and no-one else can use the loo while the person in their is washing hands, fixing make up etc). The rooms are also much dirtier. The latter is a psychological thing which I haven't studied. Normal loos with cubicles and shared sinks are a single room with dividers for visual privacy while actually using the loo. You are in a shared communal space which - generally - promotes individual responsibility responsibility to keep it clean etc. I think the reasons for this are (a) the quick turn around means their is a much greater chance that you will see the next occupant after they have finished, (b) the fact that it often minimal sound privacy means occupants of cubicles are conscious that others outside may have an idea of what is going on and (c) we are just generally, as people, more likely to adopt a sense of community responsibility in a communal space. When you have a room to yourself you feel like you are on your own. You may well take less care over keeping it clean as you are far less likely to see the next occupant again and you don't feel the pressure from the queue outside or of others being able to hear you. There is no community responsibility. All of this is quite apart from the tangible benefits that women get, in certain circumstances, from the community aspect of having shared facilities.

Another reason never to go there...

I wouldn't shop anywhere with unisex toilets