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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Sonia Sodha

No woman should be forced to change her clothes in front of a male colleague

Sandie Peggie outside an employment tribunal in Dundee.
Sandie Peggie has lodged a complaint of sexual harassment or harassment related to protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Some things are plain common sense. Female employees should not be expected to share changing rooms with male colleagues. They shouldn’t be socially shamed into undressing around them, or being in spaces where male colleagues get undressed in front of them.

There is a host of principles and evidence around women’s privacy, dignity and safety to be marshalled in support of this – the charity Sex Matters lays them out – but most people don’t need to read accounts of how uncomfortable mixed-sex changing facilities make some women feel, or statistics showing that voyeurism and exposure are two of the most common male sex crimes, to understand how wrong this would be.

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