Challenging no single sex toilets at work

[fairymouse]

My office is having a refurbishment and this includes all gender neutral toilets. My workplace is horrible for this stuff and generally I just disengage but this is rumbling around in my mind.

I can't risk my job, but I do feel I should raise this with the chief executive.

I am thinking if sending an email asking if there will be a single sex women only set of toilets available , and explaining that as a survivor of DV, I am unable to use gender neutral toilets unless they are individual disabled style toilets .

Thoughts would be welcome !

@NecessaryScene yes agree with all your points.

If the door was removed I wouldn't have an issue. So I might suggest that / ask if in the plans. They won't do that as the toilets reek.

I also don't enjoy the mens piss on the floor but I don't think that's a strong argument here as that shouldn't be happening anyway!

Also menstruating women might not want men in the toilet with them. Moon cups need to be washed out and perhaps a woman has an accident.

What about breast feeding women who need to express milk? Do they also provide private breast feeding places? If not then the only place a woman could express would be in the toilet and she would need a safe space for this.

There is also the problem of the partitions dividing these cubicles, unlike proper single access mixed sex toilets, these are not walls but merely a sheet of plywood with no sound proofing. Given the number of paraphilias associated with listening to women on toilets, this is a real problem as women may be being forced , albeit unknowingly, to participate in someone else's fetish.

Please dont make them think toilets are suitable for breastfeeding. They need a space for this but dont make it about the loos.

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 state under Regulation 20 that employers need to provide separate rooms containing toilets for men and women
This is the top and bottom of it. They are simply not permitted to remove single sex provision.

Gosh people have to go through much rubbish these days to work. Compulsory vaccines, single sex toilets, unable to give an opinion on what they think for fear of loosing their job. When enough is going to be enough? I feel for you OP.

@Flubbah

The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 state under Regulation 20 that employers need to provide separate rooms containing toilets for men and women This is the top and bottom of it. They are simply not permitted to remove single sex provision.

Quite.

If you're a female person who is not able to use mixed sex provision you're lucky enough to have a second hoop to jump through the joy of being born with female biology and one of the subhuman ones that male people get to choose which sex they would like to be for the purpose of choosing which toilet to enter.

But remember: sex definitely isn't dimorphic, biology isn't a thing, kittens fly backwards on Wednesdays and rainbows taste of cheese.

Bimorphic. Not enough coffee, too much rage.

At this biology I apparently don't have.

Or rather don't belong to the group with the dominant biology and all the power that comes with it who believe they should get to inform me what my reality is for their benefit.

Unless the floor is going to be fully redesigned retro fitting single sex cubicle and external wash basin space is also likely to lead to a reduction of total units in the building

Traditional rooms are a rectangle with entry at the short end
Inside there are 2 rectangles
One with walkway and sinks.
The other is subdivided into the locked toilet.

How easy is it to redesign a 4 unit rectangle into 4 individual units in the same space?

*How easy is it to redesign a 4 unit rectangle into 4 individual units in the same space?
It would be more like a 4 unit rectangle becoming 2 individual units, and it would cost more per toilet too.

Well if I write a sensible complaint based on all the excellent info here , and then lose my job, I imagine the email itself would lend itself to an unfair dismissal challenge . I don't expect to lose my job over this, but it's the only thing that has stopped me speaking up so far at work (including having to attend a compulsory training course where I was told it's not just women that menstruate )

Definitely going to do this . Everyone needs to when this shit happens .

Not related but how do you use a moon cup with stalls?

Not directly relevant, but someone on the other thread cited the regulations for schools, which I think would address your concern:

Building regulations act says toilets in schools must be single sex or mixed sex or unisex ones must be self contained/full doors/walls/basin inside and open onto a corridor.

I've just managed to have this sorted where I work.

Discuss safeguarding, women having different needs from toilets, increased use of reusable sanitary products that mean washing blood out in the sink (I think this one did it for us), and the current climate of fear amongst women of men in authority who should be trustworthy (eg Sarah Everard).

Try to avoid the gender identity argument until they bring it up.

@Flubbah

*How easy is it to redesign a 4 unit rectangle into 4 individual units in the same space? It would be more like a 4 unit rectangle becoming 2 individual units, and it would cost more per toilet too.

That would likely breach planning as it's a calculation of users by floor space Most designers will prioritise office space and keep service areas to a minimum The fully enclosed spaces also need appropriate upgrades to the ventilation which is an extra cost.

Thank you for challenging this at your work. So many useful comments on this thread. The previous comment about the semi-private, semi public spaces provided by women’s single sex toilets (away from men) are really important. These spaces, which are dangerously obliterated by enclosed cubicles toilets, allow for women to call on other women in everyday situations and in emergencies. These situations are real, and they do occur in workplaces, whether men-centring people want to admit that or rather pretend it never happens.
This thread talks about how women’s singles sex toilets are used: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3203454-What-do-you-use-the-womens-toilets-for

I would also send on the excellent video of Dr Clara Greed speaking about this issue, linked to on that thread. Dr Clara Greed is emerita (retired or semi-retired) professor of inclusive urban planning and still active in research, writing and campaigning. She is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and other built environment bodies.

Some employers seem to think inclusivity measures do not apply to women, which is obviously extremely sexist and discriminatory but they will then need this pointing out to them.

Has (probably have( anyone mentioned the number of women who suffer miscarriages isn’t loos?

ANother vote for health and safety at work act, they cannot get around it.

Recent court cases indicate that being gender critical / believing in reality is a 'strongly held personal belief' so unisex are discriminating on that too, and then you have orthodox Jews and Muslims, direct discrimination against them.

Good luck OP. I raised an issue at work linked to DV a few years back with the help of MN. Despite my worries, everyone I spoke to was really supportive and a bit mortified that they hadn't considered the implications. I think it's just not on the radar for lots of people - there's still such a culture of silence and its not considered acceptable to raise awareness of it.

I hope your work are as good as mine was. It sounds like you are raising it in good time for them to change the plans at least.