Gyeonggi Province to Promote Women's Safe Restrooms at Over 1,000 Public and Private Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Starting next year, Gyeonggi Province will launch a full-scale women's safe restroom environmental improvement project, installing emergency call buttons and illegal filming prevention equipment at approximately 1,000 public and private restrooms. The initiative aims to create restrooms safe from crime, and is significant as provincial support is expanding to include private restrooms, which have been identified as management blind spots.

Lee Sun-neum, head of the Women and Family Division of Gyeonggi Province, held a press conference at the Gyeonggi Province Government Building on the 15th and announced the "Gyeonggi Province Women's Safe Restroom Environmental Improvement Plan" incorporating these matters.
Director Lee stated, "Restrooms are perceived as spaces where the risk of crime lurks at any moment, and particularly the security of small-scale private restrooms is very vulnerable," adding "To create restrooms safe from crime where children and women can use with confidence, Gyeonggi Province has established the women's safe restroom promotion plan."

Looking at the implementation plan prepared by Gyeonggi Province, the province plans to install emergency call buttons and abnormal sound detection systems at approximately 500 public restrooms over five years from 2020 to 2025. This system, integrated with Internet of Things (IoT) technology, detects when an emergency button is pressed or when screaming occurs, and immediately transmits the information to operators and police box control rooms through a control server.
Gyeonggi Province currently has 10,689 public restrooms, of which 1,960 have emergency call buttons installed, accounting for 18%. The province plans to cooperate with relevant police stations to additionally select public restrooms that are vulnerable to crime and require facility improvements, and provide emergency call buttons and abnormal sound detection systems.

Plans for creating women's safe environments at private restrooms installed in buildings and commercial areas are also being promoted.
The province plans to operate a women's safe restroom consulting team of 100 members, with 2-3 members per city and county next year, and conduct on-site surveys of security facilities at private restrooms in commercial districts through collaboration with the private sector including women-friendly city civic participation groups, autonomous crime prevention squads, and community organizations that are well-informed about local circumstances.
Through this process, restrooms vulnerable to safety will be discovered first within the region, and facility improvement and environmental enhancement through CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) methods will be implemented. The province will support the application of environmental improvement methods tailored to each restroom's circumstances, including emergency call buttons, safety mirrors, safety screens that block illegal filming, and application of special fluorescent materials. The province estimates that CPTED-based safety environmental systems will be applied to approximately 480 restrooms over three years from 2021 to 2023.

Additionally, the illegal filming inspection support project for restrooms, implemented since 2019, will continue next year. The province will regularly inspect public restrooms using illegal filming detection equipment, conduct special ad-hoc inspections in areas with high pedestrian traffic, and continue to expand services that lend detection equipment to locations requiring inspection.

Director Lee emphasized, "The key to this project lies in the cooperative system spanning the province, cities and counties, police, and the private sector," and added, "Among these, the participation and cooperation of citizens in each region will play the most pivotal role," urging public cooperation.