Came across this’s post on the FillYourBoots Facebook page.
Please keep me anonymous… I am on the Army Servicewomen’s Network Facebook Group, I submitted my completely valid concern and they aren’t posting this ( what’s the point of the ASWN if I can’t raise concerns affecting army servicewomen ) and it’s not going to get posted as other posts are getting approved.
Here it is.
Posting anonymously because this is a sensitive subject, but I’d genuinely like to hear from other women serving in the Army about their experiences and views.
I’m currently working alongside a transgender woman, and we are expected to use the same female bathroom facilities. This has made me think about what this will mean on exercise and in other environments where accommodation, changing areas and ablutions may also be shared.
What I’m struggling with most is that, as a woman using these facilities, I don’t feel I’ve ever been asked whether I’m comfortable sharing intimate spaces with someone who is biologically male. Recently, during a CDT, the same individual was escorting women to the bathroom, and again there had been no conversation beforehand with the women involved about whether anyone had concerns or required alternative arrangements.
I appreciate this is an extremely sensitive subject and that transgender personnel are entitled to dignity, respect and fair treatment. But I also think there needs to be room to discuss the dignity, privacy and boundaries of female personnel without women automatically being assumed to be prejudiced for raising concerns.
For me, shared toilets, showers, changing facilities and accommodation are particularly private spaces. I would like to understand what the Army’s actual policy is, whether female personnel are supposed to be consulted, and what options exist if somebody is genuinely uncomfortable with the arrangements.
Has anyone else dealt with this while serving, particularly on exercise or in shared accommodation? Were alternative facilities or accommodation offered, and were the women involved actually consulted?
I’m asking because I want to understand where our rights and privacy as female personnel sit within the current policy, and how concerns like these are supposed to be raised appropriately.