"Towels Free for Men, 500 Won for Women"... NHRCK Rules It "Gender Discrimination"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has ruled that a public bathhouse practice of charging only female customers separate fees for towels and soap constitutes discrimination that violates the right to equality.

According to the NHRCK, a complainant, identified as A, visited a public bathhouse in the Gyeongsangbuk-do region in September of last year and found that while towels and soap were provided free of charge to male customers, female customers were charged 500 won per towel and 700 won for disposable soap.

A filed a complaint with the NHRCK, arguing that this was a gender-discriminatory business practice.

In response, the business argued, "This was an inevitable measure considering business losses from purchasing supplies due to frequent loss of towels provided to female bathers."

The business also explained that under the Public Health Control Act, public bathhouse operators have no obligation to provide amenities free of charge, and that other businesses nationwide operate in a similar manner.

An investigation by the NHRCK's Discrimination Remedy Committee revealed that 22 out of 27 businesses within that jurisdiction actually charged female customers an average of extra 500 won per towel.

The NHRCK pointed out, "Even if the recovery rate of towels and soap in the women's bath is relatively low, this is merely a problem caused by some users, and forcing all female customers to bear additional costs is a measure based on gender stereotypes or generalizations."

It also noted that other measures could be considered to prevent business losses, such as charging a deposit when renting towels or placing wall-mounted shared soap in the facility.

Nevertheless, the NHRCK judged that uniformly charging only female customers a separate fee is a discriminatory act that infringes upon the right to equality.

The NHRCK recommended that the owner of the business rectify the practice and advised the head of the local government, the mayor, to strengthen administrative guidance to prevent similar cases.

(File Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.