TEIGNBRIDGE District Council’s ruling Liberal Democrats have just voted for mixed loos and changing areas at the Broadmeadow Sports Centre in Teignmouth.

These areas are described as ‘village changing rooms’ which is a delightful sounding phrase to describe an unwelcome end to single-sex provision, writes columnist Alison Eden.

Male readers may not have the visceral reaction that many women will have to this news. I was glad to see many Conservative and SDA councillors are not in favour of doing this.

Worryingly, the council does not seem to have done any diversity checks to establish whether having shared changing areas is going to prevent, for example, women and girls from certain religious groups being able to use the facilities.

Surely this is a major omission in our multicultural community.

Women are also smaller and weaker than men, we are more vulnerable physically, and we are so discriminated against socially that we are a protected group under the law.

The phrase ‘women and minorities’ seems absurd but it’s necessary.

We may be 51% of the population but violence against women and girls both verbally and physically is an everyday occurrence and more than two women are killed by men every single week.

This is why many women prefer single-sex spaces for loo purposes and changing or trying on clothes. It’s not because we expect to be attacked.

It’s because we have to be permanently alert to the potential risk.

Frankly, it’s tedious to be fretting about whether the man staring at you is going to follow you, say something uncomfortable or just weird you out in some way.

I doubt there’s a woman alive who hasn’t worried at some point about whether she’s about to become a statistic. Leaving aside actual death threats, I’ve had men ask me how much I cost and pat me on the knee and tell me they can cheer me up (!).

I’ve been in a licensed taxi cab late at night when the driver started talking about his love of porn and I’ve sat in a train carriage and had a man come sit right next to me when there were tons of other free seats.

These are not unusual experiences for women. Public facilities where you know that you’re not going to bump into a man doing his zipper up are getting few and far between.

This is for cost reasons mainly; architects can use less space if that space is mixed and if the cubicles are stalls rather than floor to ceiling. But communal mixed sex facilities are stressful.

Who’s going to want to chat about their ‘posterior repair’ with a female friend when there are men present? (Actually, that might be a good way to clear the area!). It’s also exhausting always having to be ‘on guard’ for potential predatory behaviour.

It’s tedious having to notice if you’re the last person left changing and wanting to hurry because you don’t know who’s coming in next.

Nice men know women live with these constraints. That’s why nice men think to cross the road if they’re walking behind a woman late at night.

So, if you think women deserve their single sex spaces, let your local councillor know!