Primark to re-introduce female-only fitting rooms after two men walk in on woman

Primark will re-introduce fitting rooms permitted only for women after people raised their concerns about shared changing rooms.

Last month, Primark issued a statement announcing it was reviewing its unisex changing rooms after a woman on social media described two uncomfortable situations.

She explained what happened in an emotional video:

Charlotte Kirby visited one of the clothing stores’ branches in Cambridge when two men opened her changing room curtain.

In an emotional video she said: "Twice, two men opened the curtain and walked in on me. Luckily both times I was [...] fully-clothed, but I could easily not have been."

Now, Primark have issued a statement on their website confirming the change as well as the introduction of longer curtains in cubicles and new mechanisms added to keep them in place.

The high street retailer said it was ‘important for everyone to have a positive experience in their stores'.

David Warren / Alamy Stock Photo.

Unisex fitting rooms will still be in place in stores alongside female-only fitting rooms in 187 of 191 stores across the UK.

The remaining stores only have one changing room area, however the company’s statement says they will review other options for these locations.

Primark said: “We want our stores to be places where everyone feels safe and welcome.

“We’re sorry to hear this hasn’t been the experience some people have reported in our fitting rooms.

“We’ve listened to feedback from our customers and colleagues and you’ll start to see changes in our UK stores in the coming weeks.”

Staff will have refreshed training ‘in order to ensure that our teams have everything they need to manage the fitting rooms in our stores and support our customers using them'.

@charlottemkirby/TikTok

The statement added: “It’s really important to us that everyone has a positive experience in our stores. If they don’t, we are committed to doing all we can to make things better.

"We’ll be monitoring these changes closely and continuing to listen to our customers and colleagues."

The statement also includes details about how the women-only fitting rooms will work with the combined fitting room area also remaining in place.

It continued: “The combined fitting room area is for everyone.

"The women-only area is for all women and customers are not required to provide identification. If someone appears to be deliberately trying to abuse the policy then the store will manage at their discretion.

"The changes we are introducing are informed by the feedback we have had from customers and colleagues. We have taken these steps to try to improve our customer experience whilst using our fitting rooms.”