By Roberto Schiattino
Women have much less access to bathrooms compared to men, let alone infrastructure that is adequate in size and features for their specific needs. We are witnessing “one of the last frontiers of gender inequality.”
Photo by Sung Jin Cho on Unsplash
Reviewed: Greed, C. (2014) Global gendered toilet provision. In: More Public than Private: Toilet Adoption and Menstrual Hygiene Management II in AAG Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida, USA, 8-12 April 2014
Why is it important to design public restrooms with gender-sensitivity? This may seem like a question relevant only to policymakers, infrastructure geeks and social movements in densely populated developing countries with an apparent lack of public bathrooms –usually India comes to mind, and there is documented reasons for that–[i] but as several authors in the Gender and Development field point out, this is a global problem. It affects people from Southeast Asia to North America, and is an even more pressing issue for women. They generally have limited access to restrooms compared to men, let alone infrastructure adequate in size and features for their specific needs.[ii]
The situation goes beyond toilets themselves, to overarching gender-biased approaches, norms, designs and omissions in infrastructure.
In Global Gendered Toilet Provision –part of a larger presentation titled More Public Than Private: Toilet Adoption and Menstrual Hygiene Management given at the AAG Annual Conference in Tampa, 2014– Professor of Inclusive Urban Planning Clara Greed introduces us to this uncomfortable subject matter. It affects more than half the world’s population, even more if we take into account regions where men also lack an adequate provision of restrooms. (Greed, 2014, p 1)
If we don’t see it, does it exist?
Reviewing Greed’s article and other papers about the inadequacy of public restrooms made me reflect on my own views as a man. Many times, I have found myself going to the men’s bathroom at a restaurant or park, catching a glimpse of the line for the women’s bathroom and thinking thank god I am a man, poor them! I assumed my patriarchal privilege of peeing whenever, wherever –even in the women’s bathroom when there is room in theirs, something that usually does not happen the other way around.
With curiosity yet no scientific rigor, I decided to ask some male friends and family members what they think about this issue (if they have ever considered it an issue). Specifically, I asked: what comes to your mind when you see that scene? Several came back with the same thought I had: “Lucky me!” But I also received additional reflections: “It is ridiculous to separate bathrooms; they should be accessible to all, and gender neutral” texted an architect friend. Others added: “There should be more bathrooms for women”, and public places should have the capacity to serve as many women as men.” Two of them highlighted the fact that [women] take more time because they have to always sit”, but they did not provide possible solutions.
Feminist urbanism
Political authorities should address the problem by introducing inclusive regulations, Greed claims (p 4). This cannot be left exclusively in the hands of creative feminist entrepreneurs, who have come up with interesting inventions such as Freelax[iii] and Urinelle[iv], contraptions that permit women to urinate standing. Creative ideas can be helpful, but they do not replace sustainable public policy, namely providing an adequate number of bathrooms that are ergonomic, well-maintained, and above all, in safe environments.
According to this author, public toilets are nothing less than “the missing link in creating sustainable, accessible and equitable cities” (p 1). I would argue that the situation goes beyond toilets themselves, to overarching gender-biased approaches, norms, designs and omissions in infrastructure.
The documented underprovision of public restrooms for women has historical roots (cultural, religious, social), Greed claims, and “even if equal floor space is provided for the women’s and men’s side of a public toilet block, men are likely to have twice the number of ‘places to pee’ because a whole row of urinals can be provided in the same space where only a few cubicles can be fitted in”. (p 3) Author Caroline Criado-Perez provides more evidence of this asymmetry: “it may seem fair and equitable to accord male and female public toilets the same amount of floor space (…) However, if a male toilet has both cubicles and urinals, the number of people who can relieve themselves at once is far higher per square foot of floor space in the male bathroom than in the female bathroom. Suddenly equal floor space isn’t so equal.” (Criado-Perez, 2019, p 48)
What are the consequences of this imbalance? In underserved communities in Africa, girls have to leave school when they have their periods, while female workers in tobacco fields in the Southern US become dehydrated from avoiding drinking water because of the lack of accessible bathrooms. (Ibidem, p 49). Hence, this affects both the developed and the developing world, and it is women who have made painful adjustments.
Before concluding that separate bathrooms for transgender people are the best possible solutions, surveys should be conducted to ask both cis and trans women which would be the safer and most adequate solution for them, evidence-based information provided.
Insufficient access to bathrooms forces women to find alternatives that may have grave effects on their security. Criado-Perez highlights that “a 2015 survey found that 12.5% of women in Mumbai’s slums defecate in the open at night (…) there is a real danger of sexual assault from men who lurk near and on the routes to areas which are known to be used by women.”
The latter author points out other important reasons why women need more space, and take more time in public bathrooms: “Women make up the majority of the elderly and disabled, two groups that will tend to need more time in the toilet. Women are also more likely to be accompanied by children, as well as disabled and older people.” (p 48-49) Lastly, there’s the lack of hygiene and ergonomics in public bathrooms, that creates a ripe environment for disease to germinate and spread.
Transgender rights
Nothing is said in these volumes, however, about the discrimination, harassment, aggressions, and specific needs of transgender women and men in public restrooms. And that, paired with the strong opposition of some radical feminist groups to share those spaces with transgender people[vi], should make this a matter of relevant study beyond the label of “gender-neutral”.
Before concluding that separate bathrooms for transgender people are the best possible solutions –as many have claimed, contradicting scientific findings[vii]–, surveys should be conducted to ask both cis and trans women which would be the safer and most adequate solution for them, evidence-based information provided. For example, a study conducted by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and released in 2018, concluded that letting transgender people use public bathrooms that align with their gender identity does not increase safety risks for (cis) women and children[viii]. Serious research as such should be the basis for decision-making, as opposed to public policy disconnected from the realities of women, cis and trans.
ENDNOTES
[i] Dinoo, S. (2014). Why do Millions of Indians defecate in the Open? BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27775327
[ii] My definition of “women” includes both “cisgender” and “transgender” women. The concept of “men” refers to “cisgender” and “transgender” men; however, for the relevance to the topic in practical terms, the text highlights when addressing hurdles specific to “transgender” women and “transgender” men.
[iii] http://www.freelax.fr/
[iv] https://www.omnimedical.nl/nl/merken/urinelle-/
[v] Carla Peirano, feminist activist and social designer. Interviewed on Oct 7, 2021.
[vi] Smith, S. (2020). Conservatives find unlikely ally in fighting transgenders rights: Radical feminists. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/02/07/radical-feminists-conservatives-transgender-rights/
[vii] Jones, Ch. & Slater, J. (2020) The toilet debate: Stalling trans possibilities and defending ‘women’s protected spaces’. The Sociological Review. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026120934697
[viii] Moreau, J. (2018). No link between trans-inclusive policies and bathroom safety, study finds. NBC. Retrieved from: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/no-link-between-trans-inclusive-policies-bathroom-safety-study-finds-n911106
REFERENCES
British Toilet Association (2001) Better Public Toilets: A providers’ guide to the provision and management of ‘away from home’ toilets, Winchester, edited by Ray Fowler.
Criado-Perez, C. (2019). Gender Neutral With Urinals. Invisible women: Exposing data bias in a world designed for men. Abrams Press, New York.
Dinoo, S. (2014). Why do Millions of Indians defecate in the Open? BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27775327
Greed, C. (2014) Global gendered toilet provision. In: More Public than Private: Toilet Adoption and Menstrual Hygiene Management II in AAG Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida, USA, 8-12 April 2014. http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/24058
Jones, Ch. & Slater, J. (2020) The toilet debate: Stalling trans possibilities and defending ‘women’s protected spaces’. The Sociological Review. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026120934697
Moreau, J. (2018). No link between trans-inclusive policies and bathroom safety, study finds. NBC. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/no-link-between-trans-inclusive-policies-bathroom-safety-study-finds-n911106
Ralph, T. (2012). Right to pee campaign launches in India to demand better restrooms for women. Pri.org. Retrieved from https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-04-23/right-pee-campaign-launches-india-demand-better-restrooms-women
Smith, S. (2020). Conservatives find unlikely ally in fighting transgenders rights: Radical feminists. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/02/07/radical-feminists-conservatives-transgender-rights/
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