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[–]GenderbenderShe/her/hers 2 insightful - 4 fun2 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 4 fun -  (5 children)

Girls in africa miss school because they are humiliated for having a period, and there is lack of access to menstrual products like pads or cups or even a lack of bathrooms. One 14 year old girl took her own life after being humiliated by a teacher after having her period and staining her uniform.

Kenyan schoolgirl takes her own life after 'period shaming'

Globally, periods are causing girls to be absent from school

Why Periods Are Keeping Girls Out of School & How You Can Help

This has nothing to do with unisex bathrooms, which I have been using for years without a problem. If someone is harassing someone else, it's their behavior that is a problem, not their presence. Though I do recall an incident in high school where I was harassed by fellow cis girls in the locker room. That's OK apparently, because we're all females.

[–]MarkTwainiac 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Previously you said

I've been using men's rooms since I was a teenager and never had a problem.

Now you say

This has nothing to do with unisex bathrooms, which I have been using for years without a problem.

So which is it? Is it "men's rooms" or "unisex bathrooms" which you've been using "since I was a teenager/for years"? Also, exactly how long a period are you speaking of? It's not at all clear whether you were a teenager two or 20 years ago.

The larger point is that the issues being discussed on this thread are not about you and what you as a lone individual have a problem with or have personally experienced.

I do recall an incident in high school where I was harassed by fellow cis girls in the locker room. That's OK apparently, because we're all females.

Again, this is not about you - it's about the nearly 8 billion human inhabitants of planet earth.

Also, no one here has said any kind of harassment is OK. Girls and women are perfectly capable of being unkind, cruel and/or abusive to others of the opposite and our own sex.

But just coz girls and women can be guilty of harassment and bullying doesn't mean we should get rid of all safeguards put in place to protect female people from predation, abuse, intimidation, harassment, menacing, stalking and assault by members of the opposite sex.

Finally, for the record, during childhood and adolescence pretty much everyone gets harassed, bullied, picked on, razzed at some point, or frequently. Even the "cis" girls and "cool kids." This can be deeply unpleasant to go through, but it's closer to a universal human experience than one unique to you.

[–]GenderbenderShe/her/hers 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I've been using both men's and unisex restrooms without a problem.

[–]VioletRemihomosexual female (aka - lesbian) 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

it's their behavior that is a problem, not their presence.

If it was so easy to fix men's behaviour, rape and trafficing cases would be almost non existent, and sex segregation with safe spaces would not be needed.

Men, especially young boys, often do not understand what is menstruation. Menstruation talks is still taboo even in the western world, where advertisement can be removed from TV, because "it is gross" or "explanation of putting tampon inside looks too sexual". In other countries menstruation is considered "dirty" and in some religions women during menstruation has less rights and are not allowed to do some activities. In some countries there are menstruation huts because of how it seen.

Girl may have her first menstruation, is confused and ashamed about her body acting this strange - and then boys, who never could even remotely understand how it feels "will be boys" and even lighthearted joke can hurt that girl.

In unisex spaces in Korea there is huge problem with spy-cams and holes in toilets to "look through". It happens in women's toilets too there, thought, but on a lesser scale than in unisex toilets.

And so on.

I am both hands up on fixing such men's behaviour, on rapists dissapearing and rapes not happenign anymore, on destigmatizing menstruation, on providing sanitary products to women in need. And until this all is not fixed - we do need segregated and safe spaces for women. And even after we still will need some women spaces just for comfort, as our needs with men are a bit different, and sometimes women just want to be away from men in a world made for men.

[–]GenderbenderShe/her/hers 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Bathrooms are separated by stalls. I think we should eliminate gaps in the stalls but that's another issue. But it shouldn't matter who is in the next stall, as long as they are minding their own business. But segregated spaces is not the answer.

[–]VioletRemihomosexual female (aka - lesbian) 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

But segregated spaces is not the answer.

Why? It greatly decreased rape cases, it greatly decreased stress among teen girls, it greatly increased visits of toilets and bathrooms by females (as with unisex ones, a lot of teen girls and often adult human females were just going toilet or changing clothings only at home, and then bearing it up on lessons or work, and going toilet again only at home after work). So it works and gives big advantage. What does removing segregation will achieve? All the progress will be just reversed, rape cases would raise up, visiting of those spaces by females will drop down, stress of females in those places will raise up again. I see no reason of removing segregation, and I can't understand how it can help women at all. It may help small percentage of males (and will make everything easier to predators as well), thought, and that's it. Even men would feel more uncomfortable like that - in my school and first job we had unisex bathroom and unisex changing room. Most boys and men were prefering to NOT use them together with girls or women, we were going in two different groups, boys at first, as they need much less time, and then group of girls. But it only work if going in groups, thought. Changing it from unisex to segregated spaces, trippled the effectiveness of them, and make it more comfortable and easy for everyone, plus you could just go solo and be fine. So what the point of removing segregation, if it helps to females A LOT and helps males a bit?