98% of people want single sex spaces - poll report from YouGov

[PearlClutch]

... a poll from Sex Matters, reported on by yougov:

'A poll of 7,000 people conducted for the campaign group Sex Matters found that an overwhelming 98 per cent wanted to be able to get undressed, shower or use the lavatory away from members of the opposite sex. Almost as many said single-sex spaces were important to them and they want to be able to demand
a woman carer for an elderly female relative who needs looking after. And 89 per cent agreed that women and girls should be allowed to meet up by themselves in groups such as Guides. As for single-sex sports teams, 61 per cent said they were important for “fairness and safety.”'

yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2022/07/15/what-woman-and-does-it-worry-you

Here's the report on the Sex Matters website:

sex-matters.org/posts/updates/why-do-single-sex-services-matter/

'Our research provides rich qualitative data: thousands of individual perspectives about the impact of the loss of single-sex services, from those who value them. It confirms what representative surveys also show: that many people value separate facilities for women and men, and expect them to be provided on the basis of sex, not gender identity.
For example, a YouGov poll on 27th January 20221 showed that 52% of people wanted separate toilets for men and women, and 35% of people wanted gender-neutral toilets in addition to separate toilets for men and women.
Only 7% wanted gender-neutral only. 45% of people say they generally feel uncomfortable using a gender-neutral toilet in a public place.
A recent survey by More in Common2 found that while 43% of people were willing to agree with the statement that “A transgender woman is a woman”, only 29% thought that someone who identifies as a transgender woman should be allowed to use women’s toilets, and only 19% thought they should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission3 showed that 95% of women using women’s services preferred to receive them from a female-only organisation. A survey by the sexual violence counselling organisation Aurora New Dawn of 629 of their service users4 found that 100% of them wanted to retain single-sex peer support groups and 95% of female victims prefer a female member of staff for one-to-one counselling.'

Questions are in appendix at the back of the report - this was Sex Matters' own survey, self selected respondents.

'In February 2022 Sex Matters undertook a survey to find out why single-sex services matter to people. The response was astonishing. In a little over a week we received over 7,000 replies, nine out of ten of them from women.'

'More about the survey: The survey was designed to collect qualitative experiences and perspectives from people who value single sex services. It was hosted on Sex Matters’ website from 12 to 21 February 2022 and promoted on social media. It received 7,062 responses, and 97% of the people who responded stated that single-sex services were important to them. We analysed in detail the responses from people in the UK who said single sex services are important to them. There were 10 times as many UK women (5,559) as men (554).

It is not a representative survey, although, as we set out in the report our findings chime with what is found in representative surveys, which is that the majority of people prefer separate sex facilities for washing, changing and using the toilet, and do not expect access to these to be through gender self-identification.

This is not an issue for majority voting. Each individual should be able to know and consent to sharing single sex or mixed facilities. The message to service providers, regulators and politicians is not that every person is uncomfortable with sharing facilities and services with members of the opposite sex, but many are. If service providers ignore or dismiss their preference for single sex spaces they may be excluding them altogether.'