Lack of public toilets in UK
Written by Karen Bryan
Evidently there has been a drop of 40% in public toilet provision in the UK since 2001. This is seen as a barrier to older people being able to get out and about. I agree that this a an area for concern but not only for older people. It affects families with young kids, travelling workers and visitors to an area, really anybody who is away from home.
Photo by pikaluk
I have blogged on this topic before as I think its importance is vastly underrated. Have you ever had a day out marred by searching for public toilets, found them but deemed them to unfit to enter or discovering that the facilities closed at 5pm on a Summer evening? All of the above have happened to me on numerous occasions.
[...] Regular readers of my blog will know I have a bee in my bonnet about lack of and the awful state of public toilets in the UK. [...]
Hi
I have spent 3 years building a website that list all the disabled loos in the UK, generally there are non disabled loos nearby. I am starting to list the non-disabled loos.
Cheers
Chris
Chris, thanks for the link to your site, It is better to do some research before leaving home to ensure that there are suitable toilet facilities in the area that you plan to visit.
Unfortunately comfort breaks are very uncomfortable even when public toilets are provided. Due to changes in equality law and Health & Safety legislation we now have armies of apparently genderless cleaners/inspectors entering toilets of the opposite sex to perform visual inspections/clean while we are using the facilities (hourly in M & S, half hourly in Asda). To have a member of the opposite sex turn up while you are midstream is undignified and demeaning and infringes our human rights to privacy & decency. This change in practice puts young girls at risk of finding themselves alone with a man in what is labelled ‘ladies’. What is to stop any man posing as a cleaner and raping some poor unsuspecting woman or young girl? Please sign my petition to stop this undignified practice at:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Lavatories/
Denise, thanks for your comment.
Personally I don’t have a problem with male cleannig staff in the ladies toilet as I’m in a cubicle. There’s usually a notice warning that I male is working in the ladies and theres’ always the option to use the disabled facility. Some supermarkets do close the toilets for cleaning and I find this more annoying as then there is a queue to use the disabled facilties.
I’ve never heard of any instances of females being assualted by male cleaning staff.
I’m just glad to find toilet facilties, with so many public toilets closing, supermarkets are often the main source of toilet facilties and they have the bonus of being open long hours, unlike many public toilets.
Hi Karen
You are one of the few people I have come across who is happy with this situation. In western culture we are not accustomed to perform what are usually considered private toilet functions in the presence of the opposite sex outside of family or intimate relationships. Many of our elderly populaion would not use a toilet in front of their spouse let alone some strange cleaner! Many may have medical conditions which mean they may need to use the toilet urgently. Most of the people I have spoken to, both men and women, are uncomfortable with this change in practice and see it as an desirable extension of mixed wards. Cubicles are rarely fully enclosed so the idea of a man being able to hear what you are doing, being able to see your feet, being privvy to the embarrassment of heavy periods etc is humiliating, although it is probably not as bad as having a woman walk in if you are a man trying to use a urinal! What is the point in having separate enclosures labelled ‘male’, or ‘female’ if that is no longer what they are, this is misleading. Many young girls use the loos for trying on clothes etc and would not expect a man to enter while they are in a state of undress. In my experience very few places have warning signs, certainly M & S and Asda do not, nor do many service stations so people are being caught unawares and this is causing distress. It is difficult to see why anyone would want to clean toilets of the opposite sex while they are using them anyway! Whilst the disabled loo is an option it is not very fair on the disabled for whom it is provided and is surely not to be encouraged. It would be more sensible to provide cleaners of the appropriate sex. If opposite sex workers are to enter the toilets this should be clearly stated and times given so that people are not caught out.
Denise
Denise