England is currently reviewing its policy on publicly accessible toilets to decide whether they should be gender-neutral or separate for women.
There are different opinions on issue. As per a BBC news, there is evidence that an increasing number of publicly accessible toilets are being converted into gender neutral, which leads to discrimination against women who have specific needs and face ‘excessive queques.’
While people who identify as gender-fluid may strongly prefer gender-neutral toilets, a lot of people campaigning for women rights are advocating for ‘separate same sex facilities for women’s safety and comfort.
The Government has decided to review this policy and have provisions for everyone as per their different requirements and has solicited response at toilets@communities.gov.uk
In India, we seem far away from this debate as our current infrastructure demands availability of publicly available clean toilets in the first place. While the move to require every petrol pump to have toilets has been useful, there are still stretches, when travelling in India, where clean public toilets are practically impossible to find.
Will India take a leaf and discuss about the need for public toilets too? Accessible, Clean and Gender-neutral. Fridays are for hoping.
