Should I pursue this issue any further?

[mightbeasillyquestion]

A while ago I made a thread on here asking for advice about the gender neutral bathrooms in my college. I tried finding a student union however there didn't seem to be anyway of getting in touch. Then I asked a tutor and she wasn't much help at all. Anyway, after they posted on twitter about how safe and inclusive the college was, I replied with how are they making female students feel safe when there is no single sex toilets and they can be harassed in there? They responded with the attached image below. I did point out that sex is a protected characteristic not transgender. I also sent them links to specific legislation and they just sent me vague policies which did not address anything talked about. They have not responded to my second reply. Is it worth pursuing further with the learner services or am I on a wild goose chase with this issue?

How do you feel about taking it further?
It really shouldn't be this difficult to challenge organisations that are breaking the law imo.

Are they providing additional "gender neutral" (mixed sex) toilets in addition to separate provision for men and women as their 1/3 message seems to be implying?

If they are, the single sex ones are supposed to be the main toilets and easy to find. Not shoved on to another floor.

Well they've used the word "supplement" themselves so I'd ask whilst you acknowledge the "additional/supplementary mixed toilets", where are the single sex ones these are supplementing?

No there is no single sex toilets at all. On my campus anyway. Might be different in others. On the ground floor there is 1 set with male on one side, female on the other, but the wash area is mixed. All the others are completely mixed.

If there was single sex toilets I wouldn't be complaining about it. I asked a tutor and she confirmed that there definitely was none and it wasn't just me being blind.

I would say that's not "supplemental" at all then. I would follow it up, if you feel able to, and ask for clarification on how they are following the HSE guidelines when they are not providing separate facilities alongside their mixed sex facilities.

@RoseslnTheHospital do you think I should ask the head of learner services or put in a formal complaint, as they also told me I could do that? Which would be the most effective? Seeing how they ignored my reply to all these messages about the fact they were breaking the law and that sex is a protected characteristic not transgender. Also thank you for your advice.

First get them to clarify whether by "gender-neutral" they do indeed mean "mixed sex" (I've no idea what else it might mean - ones for people without gender identities?). You can then go from there.

And yes they should know asap that there is no protected characteristic of "transgender", and they should change that unless they want potential legal issues. For a start, it's potentially conflating "transgender" with "gender reassignment" which could look pretty transphobic as the two terms are not interchangeable.

On the ground floor there is 1 set with male on one side, female on the other, but the wash area is mixed.

why is that a problem? Sounds fine to me, but I'm not everybody so i am assuming there must be an issue with this set up.

I think I'd go for the formal complaint now, since you've already tried talking to them and have been fobbed off, and they are using incorrect protected characteristics.
You might also ask them if they have considered other needs;
Where a Muslim student could adjust her hijab.
Where a woman could go if she was having a miscarriage.

You could also ask to see their Equality Impact assessment.

Are the toilet cubicles themselves floor to ceiling walls and doors?

@Brefugee as someone who has been sexually harassed in the college, which surprisingly they did deal with very well, I would like to have somewhere to go where I know I will not be harassed by males. If a male can just follow me into the bathroom then there is no escape from them. There are also other reasons of course such as religious reasons why someone might not want to wash in front of the opposite sex. Sorry I know you don't mean harm from your post but I'm just pointing out the reasons why it is wrong.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz yes they are, but that doesn't stop males from following females into the bathroom where they could be harassed or worse.

@Thelnebriati thank you I will go with complaint procedure then and ask to see their equality impact assessment.

as someone who has been sexually harassed in the college, which surprisingly they did deal with very well, I would like to have somewhere to go where I know I will not be harassed by males

I'm sorry that happened to you. But as far as i understand it the actual toilets are separated by sex and it's only the handwashing that is mixed? I don't know of any religion where washing your hands in front of the opposite sex isn't allowed, but I'm glad to be corrected on that. I can see that if the only mirrors are there that adjusting, say, a wig or a hijab would be an issue. Has anyone made this point? Has the college offered an alternative that isn't othering or "use the accessible toilets"?

I've been harassed by men in women's toilets, tbh i suspect that had it been a bit more open as you describe they'd have found it harder.

Sex Matters might help here, too?

Brefugee

The way I picture it, is you walk into an enclosed space, to one side is "gender X" the other side is "gender Y" but everyone shares the middle bit - it's basically a mixed sex space as everyone and anyone can use every area of the space anyway and it's still an overall enclosed space, with various cubicles.

Pretty naff right?

Unless I'm totally wrong.

No you're not wrong. Its pointless, and designed by people who have never dealt with menstrual flooding or other issues.

This factsheet from Safe Schools Alliance might be useful for formulating your complaint, although I don't know whether colleges fall under the schools guidance.

There are also template letters on the safe schools alliance site which again might be useful as a guide?

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/singlesextoiletsfactsheet.pdf

No you're not wrong. Its pointless, and designed by people who have never dealt with menstrual flooding or other issues.

yeah it all seems a bit shit, tbh

This is why you need to ask very specific questions.

Such as

'which issue was this changed made to solve, specifically, and how does this measure address this issue, exactly?

Many thanks.'

Washing blood off hands? Rinsing stained underwear? A Muslim woman wouldn't be able to adjust her hijab?

all of which i think i mentioned in my very next post. Certainly the hijab.