"I was in a park with a friend and we both needed to use the bathroom. He could go for free, but I had to pay 50 cents. I thought to myself: How is that possible?" Melanie Gradik, 27, told AFP in the Austrian capital's Augarten park."I want everyone to be able to use the bathroom on an equal footing. Either we all pay 50 cents or no one pays 50 cents," she said.It's not about the money, Gradik added: "It's a small thing, but it's also an example of how women are treated unequally in everyday life."Gradik has filed a legal complaint against the municipality, arguing that exclusively charging women for access to public toilets violates the city's anti-discrimination laws.
Coins on the table for the Vienna toilet attendant, who collects 50 cents from each toilet stall user (though urinals are free of charge for men) © PATRICK SIEBER / AFP
According to her lawyer, Petra Laback, the fact that some public facilities offer free urinals for men creates inequality between the sexes. "Men have an additional free alternative, women do not," she said.If Gradik wins her case, it could set a precedent across Austria, the lawyer said. "This will certainly have an impact on other municipalities."'Objective justification'
