Sex Segregation - Female Safety, Privacy and Sensitivity

Female Safety, Privacy and Sensitivity

Some sex segregation occurs for reasons of safety. For example a refuge for 'battered mothers or wives' may refuse to admit men, even those who are themselves the victims of domestic violence, both to prevent access by those who might commit or threaten violence to women or because women who have been subjected to abuse by a male might feel threatened by the presence of any man. Sex-segregated buses have been introduced in Mexico City to reduce sexual harassment. Non-segregated toilets might also be a threat to safety and rights of privacy. Until the mid-20th century in many countries, bars, clubs and pubs routinely prohibited women customers from entering, bartenders refused to sell or allow female visitors buying drinks and sitting in their seats. Today such a practice would be considered sex discrimination in some countries and has became unlawful in those countries. The same was true for public beaches in the Victorian Age for women to not be publicly seen by other men outside the family (see bathing machines).