Safe spaces for women
Introduction
A women-only space is an area where only women are allowed to enter, to be a safe space in which they do not have to interact with men, such as public bathrooms in universities, schools, libraries, hotels, shopping centers, department stores or factories, locker rooms in clubs, shelters for survivors of abuse or sexual violence, prisons and jails, rooms in hospitals, police stations, sports practices or gynecological offices.
History
Historically, it has been public spaces for men that excluded women in politics, universities, clubs, bars, etc.[1][2]
For years, women fought to gain access to public spaces, to be able to vote, to be able to study,[3][4] to be able to enter clubs,[5] and to be able to work in the same positions.
Once they managed to legally enter those spaces, they encountered the problem that there were only bathrooms for men and they had no privacy. At the beginning of the century, in factories and offices or universities there were only bathrooms for men. Feminists fought to ensure that bathrooms in workplaces were separated by sex.[6] Public institutions, schools, educational institutions, workplaces and recreational spaces, were designed based on the needs of men and with public bathrooms tailored to men. In England, during the Victorian era, there was a policy of not creating public female baths or public facilities for women as a way to control women's movements and keep them out of public spaces, in this way women spent a lot of time without leaving their homes.[7].
Problem
Elderly women with incontinence problems, women during menstruation, pregnant women and women with babies are the most affected, since other women avoid drinking water when they go out so as not to need to go to the bathroom.[7] According to UNESCO reports, one in 10 African girls does not go to school during menstruation due to the lack of spaces segregated by sex in public school bathrooms.[8][9][10] The consequences of not having Women-only spaces can be particularly serious in cases where girls or women end up raped or murdered for not having women's bathrooms.[11][12][13][14] With the aim of creating safe public spaces for girls and women and protecting them from sexual harassment and other forms of violence in public spaces, in 2010, the United Nations created the “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces” program for women. women.[15][16].