Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph. No, mixed-sex changing rooms are not a good idea:

Women and girls are being sexually assaulted in mixed changing rooms across the country.

New police data show that at least 16 rapes, 80 sexual assaults and 65 acts of voyeurism were committed in sports centres in 2023, equating to three offences a week.

Many of the offences were in mixed-sex changing areas, according to a report by the Women’s Rights Network (WRN), which obtained the figures via freedom of information requests.

I think we knew this, but ideological concerns, as so often, have been allowed to override common-sense safety issues.

The WRN also accused local authorities and other providers of sports centres of “designing in harm” by promoting mixed-sex changing areas.

“Mixed-sex changing villages are the default design for new swimming pools and refurbished wet-side changing areas, and they are a magnet for predators,” the report said.

“Women and girls are being put at risk of serious sexual crimes because local authorities, sports councils, leisure centre operators and architects do not take women’s safety seriously. They ‘design in’ harm and provide opportunities for avoidable abuse.”