Woman's fine for urinating in public sparks sexism row in Amsterdam

Row: The woman was told to use a urinal designed for men
Shutterstock / NatureAndCities
Chloe Chaplain20 September 2017

A sexism row has erupted in Amsterdam after a woman was hauled into the courts for urinating in public.

Geerte Piening, 23, was unable to reach a public toilet after a night out in 2015 and relieved herself in a backstreet in the city.

She was spotted by three police officers and fined €90 (£80) for the offence, known as "wildplassen" in Dutch, the BBC reported.

But Ms Piening decided to contest the issue due to the fact that the city has only three public toilets that can be used by women. There are 35 public urinals for men.

"At the time I really didn't want to get involved in a discussion," she said. "But the next day I thought, just a minute, I'm going to fight this."

The judge overseeing the case suggested she should have used one of the men’s facilities, prompting a flurry of scornful tweets containing pictures highlighting the obvious difficulty women face trying to use a urinal.

The judge also claimed women were less likely to use public toilets and said Ms Piening was only the second woman he had seen court for this offence.

Ms Piening told the AD newspaper it was “embarrassing for a tourist city like Amsterdam” to not have more toilets and said it had not been her intention for her case to become an “enormous feminist thing” but thought it was “good it's being addressed".

Peter Paul Ekker, a spokesman for the deputy mayor of the city, told the BBC there are more men's facilities “just because that's how it’s gone” and added: "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?"

More than 5,000 protesters are set to join a demonstration on Friday in response to the judge's suggestions that women should have to use men's facilities.

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