Every day millions of us get our gear on
and head to the gym.
But why is it that some people
are being made to feel uncomfortable when they get there?
Many will have seen, heard of, or even experienced
harassment at the gym.
A quick look on social media shows
just how common this type of behaviour is
in gyms across the world.
A recent survey of women in the U.S.
by website FitRated
suggests up to seven in 10 women
have had an experience at the gym
that made them feel uncomfortable.
This includes being watched, flirted with,
being given unsolicited exercise advice,
being followed, sexually harassed,
having people criticise or comment on their body,
or being touched.
Statistics show that women in the UK already exercise less than men.
So I want to find out whether this harassment is making the situation worse.
Are women being forced to change their behaviour?
Or even quit exercise altogether?
Rebecca from Cardiff and Megan from Newport
have both experienced some kind of harassment at the gym.
When I started going to the gym I didn't have awareness of the people around me.
When I started getting more Confident in my training
I started noticing a lot of PTs coming up to me
and making comments and things
and then when I moved gyms
I was performing a bent over row
and a man came up to me and said:
"Bend over further darling."
There was one trainer who would come and speak to me every single session
ask me the same thing.
He made a lot of inappropriate comments, innuendo,
things that made me very uncomfortable.
And at the end of the session he asked me for my number
and I said: "No sorry"
"I've got a boyfriend if that's where this is steering"
and he said: "He doesn't have to know."
At first you sort of shrug it off
and you like to think it's not forwarded with that intention
but as it becomes more regular
you do start to get angry and self conscious
and you do feel quite paranoid about it.
So you've talked about how this type of experience
has changed your behaviour in the gym
has it impacted your personal lives at all?
As soon as I walk into a gym I already have a bit of a front up.
I'll walk in and instead of just being like: "I'm just in the gym"
it's like: "I'm in the gym, game face on completely"
"Where's the changing rooms?" "Where's the machines I need to use?"
"Who's on them?" "How can I avoid contact with anyone?"
I think I'm like that, and I think I'm probably very cold to people
who come up to me, even if they're being nice.
You're paranoid and just on it the whole time.
I'm here for my mental well-being and physical well-being
I'm not here to be stared at or looked at in anyway.
The paranoia really does get shifted on to you
that you should feel paranoid about it
like you're being over dramatic about it
like you should take it as a compliment
and that really gets me because it's not a compliment.
No one asked for that attention.
Yes I'll wear crop-tops and tight lycra
but for me it's about seeing how my body is developing
rather than to have tight clothes on for the benefit of someone else.
Rebecca and Meg say the problem is not innocent looks and exchanges
but when the line is crossed into behaviour that makes women feel uncomfortable.
I've had a few responses in my work
where women have noted: "You're always on show"
"There's nowhere you can hide"
"People can always see you."
Dr Luke Turnock has spent time looking at
how men and women behave in the gym.
From the research you did were there instances where
women had experienced harassment?
Mostly to do with men staring at them
sometimes it was sexual, sometimes it was
they felt as though the men were questioning what they were doing in their space.
A lot of it is young men being insecure
and wanting to belong to something.
So it's identity formation initially
and online, on Facebook and Instagram and so on
that have these various 'Lad pages.'
You wind up with these guys
who are maybe a bit insecure
and then they are kind of encouraged to behave in that way.
Can the gym layout affect men and women's experiences differently?
I gave an example in a presentation of
one gym where they had the dumbbell rack right outside the women's changing room
and when you had a group of lads coming they all wanted to crowd around the dumbbell rack.
So it made it a very bad experience for women who had to navigate between these lads
in order just to get to the changing room.
So in terms of just making small tweaks to structure,
moving some of the equipment around,
I think that's one of the changes gyms can very easily make
to minimise some of these issues.
Hello you okay?
Good thank you How are you?
Yeah good thank you.
Where's the first place you'd go in a gym like this?
Probably the first place would be up to the balcony.
I'd be looking all over here
seeing who's where and why, what's happening,
what machines I could use,
how I could limit moving around the gym.
What would you do around the squat rack?
Here it's near the door so I can see who's coming in
see who's coming out and because it's facing this way there's no mirrors
so I can't see anyone and they can't see me, and even if they can I'm not so aware of it
so I've still got that social awareness of what people I've got around me
and I try and get as much use out of this as I could
to prevent me from moving anywhere else.
The next thing would be to go to the area over there
that would be the next bit of my workout.
Let's head over.
I definitely would not go to that corner over there
because there's two mirrors I feel way more exposed
than an area like this where I can literally see one thing
but this is good as well because I can see around me
but I'm a little bit more isolated because it's a corner space.
If you find your safe space
I feel a lot more motivated to stay there.
It's really quite limited where you do your workout.
We spoke to two lawyers about Meg and Rebecca's stories
they told us harassment is a criminal offence if a pattern of behaviour can be proved.
But if the person being targeted doesn't make it clear that they are unhappy
it could still be difficult to prosecute.
Under civil law a gym is only liable for harassment committed
by their own staff or personal trainers.
But if you're touched that is considered assault.
The survey by FitRated also found that
for women who had experienced harassment at the gym
fewer than 1 in 4 reported the issue to staff members.
Nearly half chose to leave the scene
and less than eight percent chose to confront the person harassing them.
So what happens if you do report it?
I reported it to a PT in the gym
who shrugged it off and said "You should expect that."
They basically responded and said: "You're lucky to be getting the attention."
I then rang the head office of that gym who said
that they were really sorry and gave me a refund for the time I've spent in the gym
and said although they want to take it really seriously
there's not a lot they can do as it's just one phonecall.
So I left quite disheartened and whenever things like that have happened again
I've brushed past it and not made comments as nothing seemed to get done about it.
It's clear from the people we've spoken to that gym harassment is widespread
but it's difficult for the law to tackle.
One of the UK's largest gym chains, Pure Gym, has over 1 million members
so I'm here to find out what they're doing about this problem.
Pure Gym has already made changes at some of its gyms including
moving equipment and ensuring easy access to women's changing rooms.
I think harassment can happen in any walk of life
whether in your workplace, out on the street, or in any gym.
Unfortunately it's part of a societal issue that we deal with nowadays.
What is Pure Gym's policy in dealing with complaints of harassment?
We have a very clear code of conduct
both for our members and we have very clear code of conduct
for all the people that operate in our gyms.
If any member is found to be acting inappropriately
we will investigate, we have very robust procedures
and if necessary we will and we can
terminate that members membership.
Some of the people we spoke to told us that
personal trainers are not aware of what's appropriate and inappropriate
how do you deal with this in gyms?
Our guidance of anybody who operates in our gyms
is very clear in how to deal with members in a professional manner
and that they are respectful in any way when they are dealing with a member.
Gyms obviously have a role to play in tackling harassment
but what about the rest of us?
Paul Olima is a gym influencer with more than 160,000 followers
If there was an attractive girl in the gym seventy percent of the lads would
stop and try and move to the area that they are in
I see it all the time.
I don't like it. I've seen lads staring
and you can see it makes a girl uncomfortable.
Do you feel like you've got a responsibility to educate your male followers
in etiquette and how to behave in gyms?
I do, that's the thing I try with my stories
I do it in a more jovial way.
Where you'll have a laugh about it but you'll also be thinking about it
"Maybe I should..." Do you know what I mean?
I'm just going to show you this video
...something along those lines and I said:
"I've got a boyfriend if that's where this is steering"
and he said: "He doesn't have to know."
On that I've seen personal trainers do what she's just said
around 70 times.
A personal trainer will be like: "We're doing inductions"
"and there's a lovely girl at inductions today"
If somebody has bad form you're meant to help them but just not in a way
that's trying to get a number.
We told ukactive, an association of almost 4,000 gyms and health facilities
about Meg and Rebecca's stories. In response they said:
While the industry says harassment is a wider social issue
the people I've spoken to have insisted that it is a particular problem in gyms.
And if gyms want to keep up with the pace of change in other public spaces
then many argue more action is needed and fast.
The women we interviewed made some practical suggestions
of things which might help tackle the problem.
Such as clearer policy and posters on walls
and ukactive agreed to pass on these suggestions to their members.
I think people should feel empowered when they go to the gym
they should feel strong like it's just part of their daily routine.
I think you should feel confident and you should feel safe.
You go in there to feel better about yourself and not to be intimidated and worried.
You should feel empowered, confident, really happy and motivated to go there.
That's how I would want to feel.