Primark installs ‘Women Only’ signs outside changing rooms for customers ‘self identifying’ as females amid backlash over ‘Any Gender’ facilities after woman customer told how man ‘burst in on her’
- Read more: Primark re-introduces women-only changing rooms after backlash
Primark has sparked confusion after installing new signage outside its changing rooms which split the facilities into ‘Women Only’ and ‘Any Gender’ categories.
It comes after the fashion retailer announced it would be axing its gender-neutral changing areas – which had been in place since 2019 – from October last year.
It followed numerous complaints from women who claimed they did not feel safe sharing changing rooms with men.
The clothing giant revealed it would keep the gender-neutral facilities while creating new ‘women only’ spaces, which would continue to be accessible to trans women.
The signs currently being rolled out across stores are a part of that same policy change, however some shoppers remained confused, demanding they be made clearer.
Primark has sparked confusion online after installing new signage outside its changing rooms which split the facilities into ‘Women Only’ and ‘Any Gender’ categories
The clothing giant previously revealed it would keep the gender-neutral facilities while creating new ‘women only’ spaces, which would also be accessible to trans women (Pictured: ‘All Gender’ changing room at Primark)
READ MORE: Shoppers claim they’re turning away from Primark because of ‘inflation’ with t-shirts costing £12 – and insist supermarket ranges are cheaper
In a picture shared on Twitter on Tuesday, a blue and white sign can be seen declaring: ‘These fitting rooms are for Women only.’
It adds: ‘We also have Any Gender fitting rooms available for everyone – please ask.’
Scores of social media users were wrongly led to believe the company had implemented a strict new policy of single-sex fitting rooms.
But Primark later confirmed it has not made any changes, meaning anyone who identifies as a woman can continue to access the women’s changing room – as long as they do not ‘abuse the system’.
It came after a Twitter user who describes herself as a ‘feminist’ uploaded the image of the sign, telling Primark: ‘Thank you… I don’t know if this sign is new but I was very pleased to see it today… Safe spaces for everyone!’
Dozens of her followers commented below the post to also praise the retailer.
‘Good to see you might finally be taking your female customers seriously,’ wrote one social media user.
Another said: ‘This is all women and girls are asking for. Thank you @Primark for recognising the very REAL danger for girls to allow men access to safe spaces. Take note. This is how it’s done!’
Amid the confusion, trans activist India Willoughby branded the signage ‘terrible’, accusing Primark of ‘succumbing to trans hysteria’.
She fumed: ‘You know trans women are recognised in law as women – yes? Fact. The racial equivalent of this is ‘White’s Only’ or the homophobic version ‘Straight’s Only.’ I hope you get sued.
‘Just to be clear…If you let me know of a store where I would be banned from the Women’s changing room (despite being a woman) I’ll pop down this week and we can start a court case.’
But Primark told MailOnline today that while the signs are new, they are there to complement the policy the company brought into effect in October.
That policy states: ‘The combined fitting room area is for everyone. The women-only area is for all women and customers are not required to provide identification.
‘If someone appears to be deliberately trying to abuse the policy then the store will manage at their discretion. The changes we are introducing are informed by the feedback we have had from customers and colleagues.
Primark brought back its women-only changing areas following a backlash over its unisex facilities
‘We have taken these steps to try to improve our customer experience whilst using our fitting rooms.’
Ms Willoughby called for the signs and policy to be made clearer, accusing them of being ‘open to interpretation.’
Another Twitter user agreed, adding: ‘Primark please clarify… Women and girls need a clear answer!’
The move to bring back women-only changing rooms, first announced in September, was seen as a partial u-turn following Primark’s decision to axe separate changing areas for men and women in 2019.
However, despite the changes, a spokeswoman from the fashion outlet previously explained how the overhaul would not see the company returning to having just ‘men’s and women’s changing rooms’.
Instead, the changing areas are now split in half, with one side remaining gender-neutral and the other being reserved for those who ‘self-identify as women’. People who identify as male are not allowed into the female-only facilities.
The change in policy followed a report by a mother from Burslem, Staffordshire, who claimed she suffered a ‘traumatic’ experience while using one of the store’s gender-neutral cubicles.
The 45-year-old was half-naked and inside the Hanley branch of Primark, when a man pulled back the curtains, leaving the female office worker horrified.
And while she believec the encounter was entirely accidental, the horrified mother-of-one demanded Primark to beef up its security at changing rooms.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told StokeonTrentLive: ‘I went in to try on clothes, I didn’t know it had gone to unisex at the time I went in.
The move came after a mother from Burslem became the latest women to suffer a shocking ordeal at a unisex changing area
‘This man opened the curtain fully on me while I was undressed. He didn’t approach me or anything like that. The man looked a bit shocked, I was more shocked than anything. I don’t think there was anything intentional. He was probably shocked like I was.
‘I went to tell staff ‘there’s a man in here’ and the lady said ‘yes, it’s gone to unisex now’. I said ‘he’s opened the curtain on me’. I complained to Primark but I didn’t hear anything back.’
She added she feared for the safety of other women if changes were not rapidly implemented.
‘I don’t want to go in there now, I don’t think it’s nice. I wouldn’t let my daughter go without me anymore,’ she added.
‘There’s no security in there. It’s a big changing room and these days things happen.
‘All you get is a curtain, it isn’t even a locked door. They will end up with something bad happening… A man could easily just put their hand over someone’s mouth, it’s just an open target.
‘It’s a big changing room that goes around corners. I don’t think it’s safe. If they do measures to make it safe then unisex wouldn’t be too bad. They should put doors on that lock, like other changing rooms. You’d feel quite safe locking the door.’
The 45-year-old spoke out after Charlotte Kirby, 25, posted a video tearfully revealing how two men had walked in on her while she tried on outfits at a unisex changing room at Primark in Cambridge.
Some MPs urged major high street stores to scrap unisex changing rooms following a surge in women suffering distressing encounters with men, including Charlotte Kirby (pictured), 25, who was left in tears after two men walked into her unisex changing room at Primark in Cambridge
An investigation by the Mail On Sunday later revealed a slew of complaints from other women across the country who had suffered similar experiences.
The probe revealed how one mother said that while taking her teenage girl to M&S for her first bras, they encountered a man emerging from a cubicle with his testicles exposed.
Another mother tweeted how at another M&S store, in Exeter, a man left open the door of his cubicle in the ‘gender-neutral’ changing rooms, exposing himself as he tried on trousers without any underwear.
A woman complained and the man was then escorted out, while protesting.
Another mother said she had banned her 13-year-old daughter from going clothes shopping alone after discovering her local H&M provides only unisex changing rooms.
And on Mumsnet, a woman recounted how she had been secretly filmed in a unisex changing room.
The situation prompted calls from Westminster politicians and women’s rights activists, with Labour MP Rosie Duffield saying: ‘It’s completely unacceptable for major retailers to deny women and girls a right to change in private.’
Primark vowed to make changes to the way it works following a review of its policies.
The store introduced unisex changing rooms in March 2019, following claims by transgender customers of unfair treatment.
H&M, John Lewis, M&S, Monsoon no longer offer female-only spaces after transgender activists called for unisex changing rooms – despite a survey showing that 98 per cent of the public wanted single-sex spaces. Pictured: A changing room at Primark
A Primark spokesman previously said: ‘We are so sorry to hear about this incident. We take customer safety and privacy extremely seriously and always follow up and fully investigate every reported incident.
‘We want our stores to be places where everyone feels safe and welcome. We’re sorry to hear this hasn’t been the experience some people have reported in our fitting rooms.
‘We’ve listened to feedback from our customers and colleagues and you’ll start to see changes in our UK stores in the coming weeks.’
‘It’s really important to us that everyone has a positive experience in our stores,’ a Primark spokesman added. ‘If they don’t, we are committed to doing all we can to make things better.
‘We’ll be monitoring these changes closely and continuing to listen to our customers and colleagues.’
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