Mixed-gender changing rooms 'magnet' for sexual predators, according to new report
80 sexual assaults, 16 rapes and 65 incidents of voyeurism took place in leisure centres in 2023 – many of them in mixed-gender changing areas.
Women and girls are being targeted by sexual predators in mixed-gender changing rooms across England and Wales, a new report has found.
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Police data obtained by the Women’s Rights Network (WRN) showed that 80 sexual assaults, 16 rapes and 65 incidents of voyeurism took place in leisure centres in 2023 – many of them in mixed-gender changing areas.
The report follows earlier WRN research which found that one in three councils no longer offers single-sex changing rooms for swimming pool users, amid what it called “a backdrop of shrinking access” to women-only spaces.
Olympic and Commonwealth swimming champion Sharron Davies MBE described the findings as “shocking” and “horrendous”, warning that mixed-gender facilities were “proving to be a magnet for sexual predators” and “places where females are uniquely vulnerable”.
Although single-sex changing rooms are not mandatory, official guidance states that where they do exist, they must be reserved for biological women.
The WRN has said that mixed-gender “village-style” changing areas are now “the default design” in new leisure centres, and that these layouts “design-in harm” by creating opportunities for avoidable abuse.
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Across England, 146 sex crimes were reported in leisure centres in 2023, seven of which were perpetrated by male staff members.
The WRN sent nine detailed questions to every police force in England about sexual offences in leisure centres with swimming pools.
Thirty-five of 38 forces responded, while Gloucestershire Constabulary, Lincolnshire Police and Warwickshire Police did not.
Ten of the 35 responding forces refused to release the data, and many said incident records often lacked precise location details, making it difficult to identify where crimes occurred within facilities.
The report also warned that crimes like voyeurism often escalate into more serious offences.
A 2021 Crown Prosecution Service analysis found that 15 of 46 men prosecuted for upskirting over a one-year period were also charged with other sexual crimes, including child abuse and sexual assault.
In one case cited in the Swim England safeguarding report from February 2025, a woman targeted by mobile-phone voyeurism wrote: “I feel like leaving swimming altogether now. I can’t believe someone has done this to me. I feel so embarrassed.”
Another said: “I wasn’t going to tell anyone. What’s the point? Nothing will be done about it.”
A teenage girl sexually assaulted while showering described suffering nightmares, panic attacks and long-term trauma said : “To this day, the smell of chlorine makes my muscles tense.”
Davies, recently nominated to sit in the House of Lords in recognition of her work on women’s sport, added: “We have an epidemic of male violence against women and girls in this country.
"Every local authority leisure provider should read this report and take action to protect all female swimmers. This is too important to ignore.”
In the report, the WRN called for immediate withdrawal of Sport England guidance promoting mixed-gender facilities and for new leisure centres to include single-sex changing rooms as standard.
Other recommendations included: Mandatory risk assessments on women’s safety before approving new or refurbished leisure centres, and the review of existing mixed-gender changing villages.
The report comes after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 in the For Women Scotland case, which ruled that “women-only” spaces must exclude all men, including those with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
However, the WRN has said many organisations – including ukactive, which guides the UK leisure industry – have delayed updating policies, claiming they must wait for a new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Code of Practice.
The debate sharpened further this week when an NHS trust was found guilty of harassing a nurse who objected to sharing a women’s changing room with a transgender doctor.
Nurse Sandie Peggie, suspended after raising concerns about Dr Beth Upton, was supported by a tribunal that ruled the trust had mistreated her.
However, the tribunal also found that Dr Upton’s use of the changing room was not “inherently unlawful” and remained lawful until the point Ms Peggie made her complaint.