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Kemi Badenoch claimed that a female student at an anonymous school developed a urinary tract infection (UTI) because she did not have access to adequate gender-segregated toilets.
The Equality Minister told LBC that people should report public bodies that fail to provide separate spaces for men and women or support policies that breach the Equality Act, citing concerns about the risk of contracting a urinary tract infection. Told.
Ms Badenoch did not name the school in question, but claimed young female students there “did not want to use the same toilets as the boys”.
Speaking Wednesday, she said: “If you take an example of a school that has gender-neutral bathrooms and young girls don’t want to use the same bathroom as boys, the girls didn’t go to the bathroom at school,” and they got urinary tract infections. I did.
“This is obviously terrible, but the school thought it was following guidance because it used policy analysis from an organization that did not take into account the Equality Act.”
She said the government was asking people to report to agencies not to “try to get people” but to “help people do better”.
Asked for evidence to back up her comments, her office then referred to a letter written last year by a Conservative MP, explaining the cause of one girl’s urinary tract infection in a secondary school with gender-neutral toilets. He claimed that. Walsall, West Midlands.
Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes has written to the principal of Walsall Academy complaining about the newly rebuilt toilets, which have open access and shared washing facilities.
He claimed they had caused “anxiety among students and parents”. He added: “Unfortunately, within a short period of time after these toilets were installed, one female student developed a urinary tract infection because she was not comfortable using the toilets.” added.
Is there any evidence for Kemi Badenoch’s claims?
Professor Andrew Williams, consultant community paediatrician, said Mr Hughes’ claim that a urinary tract infection was the cause was a possibility, but he doubted whether it was supported by sufficient evidence. It showed.
“To prove this, we need a microbiological test for a urinary tract infection given this history,” Professor Williams said. I. He called on Mr Hughes and Mr Badenoch to reveal their sources.
Walsall Academy responded to Mr Hughes’ accusations by saying separate toilet blocks for boys and girls were still available, adding that more toilet options had been created based on student feedback.
A school spokesperson said: “Students said they felt safer in the open-plan toilets, as some had previously experienced bullying in ‘enclosed’ toilets.”
Julie McCulloch, policy director at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the association was not aware of “any specific incident of this type”.
she said I Ministers like Ms Badenoch said it would be better for the board to take in the feedback from the consultation process on gender-neutral toilets launched in 2022 “rather than criticize individual schools for the decisions they have made”. Deaf,” he said.
The National Association of School Head Teachers (NAHT) said it is not aware of any cases where gender-neutral toilets have caused urinary tract infections.
NAHT, together with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Royal College of General Family Physicians, said: guardian None of their data supported the Equality Minister’s claims.
What are the current rules regarding school toilets?
government guidance This requires all schools in England to provide single-sex toilets and changing rooms for pupils aged eight and over, and does not allow schools to provide only gender-neutral facilities. It means that.
Both staff and students allowed to ignore Physical education activities can be segregated by gender if this is the transitional child’s preferred pronoun and there are sufficient safety concerns.
A survey conducted by YouGov earlier this year found that younger respondents were generally more comfortable using gender-neutral toilets in public places.
48% of 18-24 year olds felt comfortable using the toilet regardless of gender, compared to 41% who did not, and half of 25-49 year olds said they felt comfortable using the toilet.
How do you get a urinary tract infection?
According to the NHS, UTIs are usually caused by bacteria that enter the urinary tract through poop. Bacteria enter the body through the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body).
Women have a shorter urethra than men. This means the bacteria are more likely to reach the bladder or kidneys and cause an infection.
According to the NHS, things that increase the risk of bacteria entering the bladder include:
- to have sex.
- pregnancy;
- Conditions that obstruct the urinary tract, such as kidney stones.
- Conditions in which it is difficult to completely empty the bladder – such as an enlarged prostate in men or constipation in children.
- urinary catheter;
- decreased immunity;
- Not drinking enough water.
- Not keeping the genital area clean and dry.
The NHS is urging patients to “pee regularly during the day” rather than “holding in your pee when you feel like it”.
In some cases, holding urine for too long can cause bacteria to grow, increasing your chances of getting a urinary tract infection. However, holding in urine does not directly cause a urinary tract infection.
Urinating helps flush the bladder and the rest of the urinary tract.
The number of girls getting urinary tract infections is falling, with more than 100 fewer cases in 2022-23 than in 2019-20, NHS data shows.
For more information about the symptoms of a urinary tract infection and what to do if you think you or a family member has one, visit the NHS website. here.