Radicailín strongly object to the Department of Education’s new Design Guide for sanitary facilities in schools, which proposes that new school builds and renovations should implement mixed-sex bathroom facilities for pupils.
Earlier this week, the topic was brought to the attention of the nation when Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún of The Countess spoke on RTE’s Liveline.
We disagree with the Department of Education’s claims that the proposed designs ‘have the physical and emotional safety of pupils in mind, to promote inclusivity and in order to remove the risk of bullying in the school environment’. Whilst bullying is a huge problem in schools which must be tackled, the proposed layouts only serve to benefit a small minority of pupils, while totally disregarding the dignity and safety of girls. This is not inclusivity.
The guidelines pose several child safeguarding issues.
There is evidence to suggest that there are negative physical and psychological effects in children attending schools with mixed-sex sanitary facilities. Girls report being subjected to ‘period-shame’ from male classmates, and in many cases may avoid using the facilities during the school day, leading to increased risk of dehydration, urinary problems or kidney infections.
In addition, a shocking 37% of girls in UK schools have experienced sexual harassment from their male peers. Allowing male pupils, who are in some cases as old as 19, to share toilet facilities with girls as young as 12 is unacceptable and will only lead to girls feeling unsafe.
Women and girls are the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual harassment and assault, and men and boys are the majority of perpetrators. The reason we have single sex spaces is to protect the privacy and safety of women and girls. The new School Design Guide proposals will deprive Ireland’s school girls of this sex-based right.
We do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support the department’s claims that these new guidelines will reduce the risk of bullying in schools, nor do we believe the department has conducted sufficient research into the adverse effects these guidelines may have on the ability of girls to partake fully in school life.
We call on the Department of Education to retract the changes to the School Design Guide.
Gabi is a radical feminist from Ireland.