Potty Parity

What is potty parity?

"Potty parity is equal or equitable provision of public toilet facilities for females and males within a public space." -wikipedia

Equal Distribution

The distribution and number of public toilets compared to men and women is unequal - there are simply far fewer toilets for women [1]. The issue of so-called "potty parity" [2,3] is also of concern to the equal opportunities team in Physics, not least in view of the distribution of toilets in the Physics building.

What would actually be a fair distribution of toilets? The legislation is mainly based on the expected number of employees for a building to be constructed, with men's toilets adding additional urinals. What is not taken into account here, however, is that the length of time women spend in sanitary rooms is longer than that of men due to various reasons (restriction to using toilet bowls, menstruation, possibly pregnancy), so that there are traffic jams and waiting times despite meeting the prescribed minimum numbers. Wouldn't a more sensible measure for a fair distribution of toilets be "equal speed of accessibility", i.e. equal accessibility in terms of time? The image of queues in front of women's toilets has become so engrained in society that it is hardly questioned why this cannot be avoided through appropriate, equal planning and whether this situation is actually fair.

Economic considerations continue to be prioritized in the area of building planning. The question of users' social needs usually takes a back seat. Subsequent conversion is usually unrealistic due to high costs. Although the physics building only recently celebrated its 20th birthday and is therefore a relatively new building, an equitable toilet situation has not been created here either.

The equal opportunities team is pleased to be able to present a flexible solution in cooperation with the faculty's institutes. The previous men's toilets will be converted into women's toilets and vice versa, alternating by building section and floor. You will find these explicitly color-coded in the picture gallery below: the toilets are sorted by building section and floor in ascending order. In addition, the toilets will in future be newly signposted as "Männer/Men inter* trans*" or "Frauen/Women inter* trans*" toilets (see below "Poster").

"WCs for all" at the University of Göttingen

In order to contribute to a comprehensive, inclusive range of toilets and to support the gradual establishment of "WCs for all" at the University of Göttingen, three individual cubicles (currently women toilet) will be converted into "WCs for all" during the trial phase. These three toilets are located near highly frequented areas with homogeneous public traffic: in the Dean of Studies learning area (level B.01), CIP pool (level D.00) and lecture hall 5 (level F.00).

Poster

The toilets in the physics building will each have the corresponding poster on the entrance doors from March 18.

Site plan

In the picture gallery, the toilets that are changed from a men's to a women's toilet are marked in turquoise. The images are sorted by building section and floor in ascending order.

FAQ - Frequently asked questions

Why not change all toilets to "WC for All" ?
The regulation is that in a toilet room the sanitary facilities must be available in lockable single cabins, then a toilet room can be used as a "WC for All". Thus all urinals in the physics building would be eliminated. Without construction work, “WC for All” is only possible in the current women’s toilets.However, since the amendment of the implementing regulation of the Lower Saxony Building Code, it is now possible to re-declare existing WC facilities. This is already being implemented at Georg August University “WC for all (with urinal)” and it is being examined whether this is also possible in physics.

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