Women complain about men 'parading around naked' in leisure centre’s unisex changing room

'Men should be made more aware that this is not on', says mother of 10-year-old girl

Gender-neutral 'changing village' at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre was built as part of £10m refurbishment (Bath Sports and Leisure Centre)

Women have claimed men are “parading around naked” at new unisex changing rooms at a leisure centre.

The gender-neutral “changing village” at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre was built as part of a £10m refurbishment.

The issue was first raised on Twitter by a user calling themselves “Debz”, who described men “walking around naked”.

They added: “I know it’s 2019+this is how things are now, but I felt so uncomfortable!”

Vicky Drew, who has a 10-year-old daughter, said: “Men should be made more aware that this is not on.”

She told the BBC: ”For some women this is extremely uncomfortable. It’s a safety issue. Women are far more likely to be sexually assaulted in unisex facilities.

“Not everybody with their toddler would like to be confronted by men with everything out.”

Another parent, who did not want to be named, told the broadcaster: “I don’t understand what these men think they’re doing.

“I don’t believe any normal person would think it is acceptable to shower and walk around a family changing room naked. There are children in there.”

In a statement GLL, which runs the centre on behalf of the city council, said the changing facility was a “gender-neutral area commonly used in leisure centres across the country” and no one had reported any inappropriate behaviour.

It added: ”The safety and welfare of our customers and staff is of paramount importance and any reports of unacceptable behaviour are taken extremely seriously.”

Last year, statistics revealed the majority of reported sexual assaults at swimming pools in the UK take place in unisex changing rooms.

Data obtained by The Sunday Times through a freedom of information request showed just under 90 per cent of complaints regarding changing room sexual assaults, voyeurism and harassment were about incidents in unisex facilities.