The Problem with Unisex Facilities

[WearyAuldWumman]

This happened at a local leisure centre.

When I first joined, I enquired as to the location of the women's showers. I was given directions to them, but was told that I was also able to use those adjacent to the pool, since there are only a very a small number in the gym changing rooms.

The member of staff then hesitated and made a point of telling me that those in the changing village are unisex. [I'm trying to recall whether there might be a part of the area that's single sex, but I genuinely can't remember.]

I've used them once. They were okay, though the cubicle walls don't go all the way from floor to ceiling - there's a sizeable gap at the top and it looks as though the bars at the top have been fitted retrospectively. I did wonder at the time.

While I was there, the only issues were young men swearing loudly while mums were in with toddlers and a young man with learning difficulties having to be told by his carers that he couldn't keep shouting "I can seeeeeeeee you!" [The lad seemed harmless, but definitely needed the accompanying supervision.]

I stumbled across this today. It only happened this year, so I'm assuming it's not the first since I joined the gym about three years ago.

I'd say that the only solution is to have legislation which dictates that unisex areas are only for adults with children and for adults with carers.

I know that they can't have the doors ceiling to floor for health and safety reasons - I'm aware that there was a situation where a disabled gym user had a fall and was left for a while before anyone realised what had happened. (There's only one accessible shower in the gym area that I'm aware of.)

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/courts/5581014/friday-court-round-up-pool-peeper/

The unisex facilities at my gym are fully enclosed. They are not cubicles, they are rooms. All have panic buttons. The smallest is just a changing room. Most have a toilet, sink, shower, and dry changing area all in the same enclosed room. They are comfortable for a family to change together if they wish. Each of the rooms is off a central space that holds lockers where people can store their belongings.

The problem with unisex faculties is lack of investment. They can be well done.

In the distant past, leisure centres generally had single sex changing rooms. Then parents started to complain and not allow their older children, mainly boys, change without their mum present. It led to boys who were far too old in women's changing rooms. So centres responded by creating uni sex facilities.

You are naive if you think saying only men with children or teenage boys to use these presumably with the thought that no father or teenager is a pervert.

Well, your cubicles don’t allow anyone to know when someone dies. Suicide cubicle is a good name for them.

Our local pool (in Australia) had someone die in the sauna and no one noticed for six hours. Yes, staff checked it and saw a man sitting quietly but if there is no continuity of who is doing the checking, things get missed. It now has a glass door so any staff member walking past can have a look and have some idea about how long a person has been inside.

And this one also near me https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-05/perth-man-dies-after-being-found-unconscious-in-gym/104313368.

Changing rooms should be single sex and open a bit at the sides and the doorway.

people die and no one notices is common. We don’t make all houses have glass fronts to protect against that. We don’t even have people checking on others once a day. I think that seems a weak concern to me.

Unisex changing rooms are a conflict of privacy v health & safety. There is a problem with keeping individual changing cubicles free from grime and have the ability to dry out if they do not have the floor to door/partition gap and space above the doors and partitions. Ventilation is a real problem. Chlorinated water is harsh on fixings and can rot partitions and doors or make them expand so they jam.

I agree the unisex section should be as limited as possible.

What may seem a ‘weak concern’ to some who are not vulnerable, single sex design has been and will be lifesaving. It is preventative to misuse and is a safeguarding measure.

I remember the days when the local swimming pool only had single sex changing rooms. I can't recall seeing mothers bringing boys into them, but that was a long time ago - back in the '60s.

There can certainly be a problem with fathers and teenage boys in mixed areas, that's true. The enclosed cubicles described above might mitigate issues.

I prefer single sex spaces myself, particularly given the problems mentioned in my original post. The one time that I used the changing village, I recall thinking that the tops of the cubicles were far too open.

I was my husband's carer and my experiences looking after him tell me that we do require some spaces which take account of family carers of the opposite sex needing to be with disabled family members.

As was suggested above, cost does come into it. Fife Leisure finished renovating a centre about 15 miles away from the one in the article. I've not checked out their changing village, but I was surprised when I discovered that - in order to fit in more showers - the women's changing area now has smaller cubicles with only shower curtains instead of doors, but at least that's a single sex space.

In terms of dealing with voyeurs, the penalties for those caught seem to be far too light. The man in the Courier article has been named and shamed in social media. I'm not sure that that will be enough to stop him from offending in future.

They are not as safe or healthy as single sex cubicles (not fully enclosed) within a single sex environment.

You have just demonstrated that with the need for the addition of a panic button. That still doesn’t stop misuse and doesn’t make up for live supervision.

Why change a cheaper, simpler, safer, healthier design that gives more provision per unit area?

I'll add that there is a pull panic alarm in the cubicle where a disabled woman collapsed at our gym, but she didn't manage to pull it before she passed out. I'm not sure how long it was before she was found.

Unfortunately this is a problem when I researched incidents. Cords are also sometimes tied up by cleaners. I untie them!

There’s also always been a misuse problem with these private spaces open to both sexes. That’s why radar keys were introduced.

Yes, I've noticed that some establishments have now put up signs asking people not to tie up the cords.

I have had problems in disabled toilets where a freestanding nappy bin has been added meaning the toilet is not large enough to manoeuvre a wheelchair. I just sling the nappy bin outside.

I read a report once that said practically none of the accessible toilets inspected across lots of different venues, were up to current standards.

Rooms are better for families with children. Rooms are better for people with my variation of autism. Rooms are better for people with certain disabilities.

cubicles are uncomfortable and difficult for many people.

Yet they are more dangerous as a non-domestic design in a public space, so should be kept to a minimum for health and safety reasons. There are ways in which you can make a fully enclosed unisex room safer but it’s never going to be as safe as a cubicle with gaps or a communal room.

If you were at your very most vulnerable, you need others to help you. They need to know you are in distress. Most people are good people and would be willing to help.