ON THE PUBLIC LOO CONTROVERSY

 

                                                           

                                                                        

                                                            ON THE TOILET (RFB)

Red Fightback views the toilet as a site for a wide variety of political and liberatory struggles. We view it as necessary to organise and work for the widespread provision of free, gender-neutral, universally accessible toilets, access to which is not policed, charged or gated.  Red Fightback understands that the matter of public toilet access cuts across many oppressed peoples’ struggles for liberation. We are calling for actions directly targeting individual political and administrative figures, with slogans that make clear that toilets are a universal need, threatening to associate their name with toilets and their non-provision

                                 THE HISTORY OF WOMEN'S TOILETS IN BRITAIN

In Victorian Britain, most public toilets were designed for men. Of course, this affected women’s ability to leave the home, as women who wished to travel had to plan their route to include areas where they could relieve themselves. Thus, women never travelled much further than where family and friends resided. This is often called the ‘urinary leash’, as women could only go so far as their bladders would allow them.

                                                                                                                                        

   

This lack of access to toilets impeded women’s access to public spaces as there were no women’s toilets in the work place or anywhere else in public. This led to the formation of the Ladies Sanitary Association, organised shortly after the creation of the first public flushing toilet. The Association campaigned from the 1850s onwards, through lectures and the distribution of pamphlets on the subject. They succeeded somewhat, as a few women’s toilets opened in Britain."

                                                         THE URINARY LEASH (GUARDIAN)

Britain has lost an estimated 50% of its public toilets in the past 10 years. This is a problem for everyone, and for some it is so acute that they are either dehydrating before going out or not leaving home at all

       HOW THE URINARY LEASH KEEPS WOMEN AT HOME

It wasn't until the rise of the suffragette movement in the late 1800s - and the popularity of department stores and cafes, which encouraged women to stay and browse - that public toilet use for women became more acceptable, says Dr Greed.(BBC NEWS)

                                                      PUBLIC TOILETS GRANTED LISTED STATUS

Grade II listed status has been granted to Victorian and Edwardian public toilets that allowed women to break free from the so-called “urinary leash"