Sexism outcry after Dutch woman fined for peeing in public
A major debate about sexism has erupted after a Dutch woman was fined $108 for relieving herself in an alleyway in Amsterdam.
The Netherlands capital currently boasts 35 public urinals for men, but just three toilets designed for women.
Geerte Piening, 23, was caught urinating in 2015 after she opted to relieve herself in a quiet street because the nearest public toilet was a couple of kilometres away.
“At the time I really didn’t want to get involved in a discussion,” she told BBC News.
“But the next day I thought, just a minute, I’m going to fight this.”
During her court hearing for the offence, the male judge told her she should have used one of the men’s facilities – a suggestion that led to widespread mockery and prompted some women to demonstrate the obvious difficulties of this.
Locals furious over stench of rotting whale buried on beach by council
'Skinhead, neo-Nazi': Restaurant owner kicks man out because he is covered in tattoos
Shoppers outraged after Big W renames Christmas trees
“Isn’t it embarrassing for a tourist city like Amsterdam that women have nowhere to go?” Piening told Dutch media.
“It wasn’t my intention that this would become an enormous feminist thing. On the other hand, it’s good it’s being addressed.”
Amsterdam’s city council also revealed it never had policy on public toilets, despite the huge gender disparity in the number of facilities.
“There are more men’s than women’s just because that’s how it’s gone,” Peter Paul Ekker, a spokesman for the deputy mayor, told the BBC.
“Obviously it should be equal and everyone will agree it can be done better, but what are the costs, is there space, and is it worth it?”
Now, more than 5000 women are set to show solidarity by descending on Amsterdam to show the difficulty of using men’s urinals.
