7 out of 10 French people have already used a strategy to avoid having a bowel movement in their business, which puts their health at risk.
- Holding back from going to the toilet can be very dangerous for your health.
- This causes constipation and urinary tract infections in particular.
According to a new Ifop study for Diogène-France, more than half of female employees (53%) say they are unable to have a bowel movement at their workplace, when 30% of their male counterparts do the same. “Young women seem to be the ones who encounter the least problems in this type of situation: only 28% of those under 30 indicate that they are unable to defecate at work, while the proportion rises to 69% among their elders aged 40. at 49, can we read in the report.
The Ifop study also shows how much the nature of what you have to do in the company toilet conditions the propensity to hold back or not: if 42% of employees refuse to have a bowel movement, they are only 7% to avoid urinating there.
Dirt and shame
Why such a situation ? “Breathing a bowel movement in the workplace is still a taboo for a large number of employees. 53% of them have already felt a sense of embarrassment when they intended to do so, a figure that is climbing 60% in women, first explain the pollsters. More than a third (34%) of employees surveyed by Ifop also say they do not have separate toilets in their workplace. A reality suffered more particularly by young people (43% of those under 30 say they are in this situation), by workers and employees (37%) as well as by civil servants (44%).
Separated or not, company toilets also visibly leave something to be desired in terms of hygiene. More than half of respondents (55%) consider them dirty, a consideration shared equally by women and men. Women and men also agree that the restrooms they frequent for work are not isolated enough (45%) or that they are nauseous (43%).
Paper shortage
As for the shortage of paper, it is experienced repeatedly by more than a third (36%) of French employees. The latter are on the other hand less numerous – even if the figure of 17% remains strong and abnormal in the 21st century – to deplore having to go to unsafe toilets, whose doors close badly for example. “Clearly, much progress remains to be made to provide millions of workers with access to toilets that respect their dignity and privacy,” comments Ifop in conclusion.
