Schools in Ireland must have unisex cubicles, and may choose if their toilet facilities are to be neutral gender-neutral and shared by both boys and girls, according to new construction and renovation guidelines from the Department of Education.
According to an updated design guide for schools, most toilet facilities going forward will include a series of cubicles with a communal sink area. The illustrations provided in the government’s guide shows boys and girls using the same toilet facilities.
Most toilet facilities in future will include self-contained cubicles with own doors and communal access to sinks. The illustrations provided in the official design guide shows boys and girls accessing the shared facilities.https://t.co/L3iDzB8uLJ
— Women's Space Ireland (@WomensSpaceIre) April 22, 2021
While a Department of Education spoeksman said that it would be up to schools to decide if they would like their toilet facilities to be gender neutral, they state that a unisex cubicle should be available near to every toilet facility.
In an attempt to justify the decision, the government department said that the design’s goal was to facilitate “all users regardless of ability or disability, to minimise the risk of bullying and to minimise the consumption of water, energy and other consumables”.
Though the department acknowledged that bullying may occur in toilets, the new design, where shared sinks are visible from the corridor, allows for what they call “passive supervision” of the facilities.
“The safety of the pupils must be balanced against the individual dignity and privacy requirements in sanitary facilities,” it said.
However, campaigner Laoise Uí Aodha de Brún, founder of the feminist group The Countess Didn’t Fight For This, hit out at the new policy.
“The government is railroading single-sex toilets in after no consultation with parents and without carrying out the necessary impact assessment into the risks for young girls”, she said.
“Irish equality law allows people to be treated differently on the grounds of gender, where ‘embarrassment or breach of privacy could reasonably be expected to happen on account of the presence of a person of another gender’.
“We are calling on the government to uphold the rights and protections of girls under this exemption.”
She went on to claim that significant problems had resulted in the UK from similar policies introduced, with some girls refusing to use toilet facilities alongside boys.
“Some girls are even missing school rather than face “period shaming” from boys. Many girls run the risk of infections because they’d rather deal with a full bladder than use the toilets. Others have simply stopped drinking liquids at school, which can lead to dehydration.”
The Countess Didn’t Fight For This describes itself as a feminist organisation which has been critical of the effect that transgender self ID laws have had on women’s rights.
“We are opposed to all bills in circulation which have been brought in top-down to enforce gender ideology (the belief that one can change their sex). The Hate Crime Bill and the Anti-Conversion Therapies Bill must be scrutinised for their impact on society,” the group said recently.