"Why Does a Woman Clean the Men's Restroom?" Seoul City States 'Cannot Process' Complaint...

Citizen: "Seeing someone urinate causes disgust"
Seoul City: "Few male applicants for cleaning jobs"

A complaint has been raised claiming that female janitors cleaning men's restrooms constitutes sexual exploitation. In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Government stated that since there is a shortage of male employees in cleaning positions, this situation occurs inevitably, and therefore they cannot process the complaint.

On the 27th, Seoul announced that a complaint was recently received through the National Petition Board stating, "In an era where sexual order is highly valued, it is truly strange that women still clean men's restrooms." The complainant, Mr. A, wrote, "How would one feel seeing a female janitor entering a men's restroom and witnessing men urinating (including seeing their genitalia) and the state of the toilets? Would it not evoke a sense of misandry? Such behavior is akin to sexual exploitation of female cleaning staff. Could this also be a symbol of male chauvinism?"

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He further added, "Men's restrooms should be cleaned by male janitors," and "If male janitors were seen cleaning the heavily trafficked subway men's restrooms, public perception would change significantly." The public proposal submitted by Mr. A to the National Petition Board is a public suggestion that allows many people to empathize and have the proposal reflected in policy through public participation.

However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metro, the operator of the Seoul subway, responded that they could not accept the complaint. They explained, "When hiring cleaning staff, the number of male applicants is low, resulting in a majority of female hires who are then assigned to stations." They added, "Although female staff inevitably have to clean men's restrooms, we always post signs or roll screens at the entrance to inform customers that cleaning is in progress and ask for their understanding to minimize inconvenience." Furthermore, the city stated, "Due to the shortage of male cleaning staff, women must clean men's restrooms, but we will continue to review measures to minimize inconvenience to restroom users."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.