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A female urinal is a urinal designed for the female anatomy to allow for ease of use by women and girls. Different models enable urination in standing, semi-squatting, or squatting postures, but usually without direct bodily contact with the toilet. Sitting models also exist, and are designed for body contact with the urinal.
Unisex urinals are also marketed by various companies, and can be Unisex. Female and unisex urinals are much less common than male urinals. Moreover, male urinals are more abundant in men's or boys' public toilets than in the toilets of private homes.
Due to an increased number of units in the same amount of floor space, there is usually a faster and shorter queue for public urinals; up to 30% more people can use the toilet facilities at the same time.
Female urinals could possibly be suitable for use in public toilets which are heavily used during peak hours and which are likely to attract large numbers of visitors, especially places like theaters, stadiums, schools, universities, discotheques, shopping centers, and public transit facilities. In addition, temporary mobile female urinals have been developed for use at open-air events and festivals, as well as free-standing units for public spaces.
The female urinal models offered today are conceptually similar to each other and follow the shape and design of male urinals but are more closely tailored to the female anatomy. One difference is most females choose to stand with their back toward the urinal and adopt a Partial squat, which is also sometimes called the "skier's posture" or "hovering stance". This is based on the posture that females generally adopt in conventional public toilets if they are dirty and when physical contact is not desired, but hovering may leave urine behind in the bladder and may not be good for the pelvic floor muscles. Thus some people hover only in cases of dire necessity.
In countries where squat toilets are the norm, female urinals can also be found as a ceramic pan at floor level. This kind of urinal would be used in a full squat position to avoid splashing back of urine. In the past, models that were used in a full squat (similar to squat-style toilets) have been developed to the prototype stageDemiriz, M. (2010). Female urinals. In Proceedings of the CIB W062 2010–36th International Symposium of Water Supply and Drainage for Buildings. pdf-file or brought to the market, like the "Peeandgo" by Chen-Karlsson, but those did not achieve commercial success. , all female urinals available on the western market were wall-mounted and used in a half-squat, "skiing" position. German Engineers Want to Bring Gender Equality to Public Toilets. Katie Van Syckle, The Cut, 12 August 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
In the course of the development towards , designers and developers are increasingly faced with the challenge of creating gender-appropriate solutions. Models, like "Uni-Pee" designed by Tamar Dax, "We P" designed by Michal Farago, "MissWizz" from Ellen Lejeune, "UriLift" from Pop-Up Toilet Company, "Captain" by Uridan, "Ti'Pi" by Ves Bat Eco, "Weestand" by LiquidGold, and "Urin*all" in collaboration with the Swiss sanitary technology company Urimat, Urin*alle All-Gender Urinal have been developed that can be used comfortably by females and males alike. Urin*all was developed 2022 by two Swiss industrial designers at the FHNW School of Art and Design in Basel. Women use the front part while men use the rear area, so that facilities for fast and contactless urination are available to people of any gender - thereby enabling more gender equality in public space. The urinal also requires no water and can collect phosphorus, which serves as fertilizer for plants. The all-gender urinal has now been awarded the public prize by Valoo, the Swiss network for sustainable sanitary systems and is currently further developed in collaboration with the Swiss sanitary technology company Urimat. Designerinnen entwickeln Pissoir für Menschen mit und ohne Penis - argoviatoday #ToBeContinued: Urin*All – eine Toilette für alle - Baunetz Campus
Berlin now has some unisex toilets and unisex urinals, to be used by both sexes. , with the expiration of a contract for public toilets with Wall GmbH, a new toilet concept for public spaces in Berlin is being developed. Urinals which can be used in a similar fashion (facing the wall) by both sexes are an essential part of the future unisex toilet facilities.
In 2023, sustainable toilets that do not require water were installed in various parks and public places throughout the city of Berlin. As an alternative to the sit-down toilet, there is a urinal for women and men. The unisex urinal is built so that women can urinate while squatting and men while standing. According to Florian Augustin, managing director of the manufacturing company Finizio, "after some initial skepticism, the urinal is being enthusiastically accepted by women." „Wir verstehen diese Toiletten als ein Portal in die Zukunft“: Berlin testet autarke Öko-Klohäuschen in Parks Sehen so die Klohäuschen der Zukunft aus? Für 1,7 Millionen Euro testet Berlin 24 Toiletten, die ohne Strom und Wasser auskommen. Selbst Kot findet hier noch Verwendung. - Tagesspiegel Öko-Toilette am Stadtpark Steglitz aufgestellt - weiterer Standort geplant - Berliner Woche
The booth solution is often proposed with the argument that female use of open urinals is socially unacceptable and associated with embarrassment. However, urination while in the company of others can be a problem for some males as well. There is always the possibility to switch to a classical toilet stall if the use of urinals is associated with shame (e.g. in the case of paruresis).
This problem arises more in the context of increasing trends towards unisex toilets for males and females. A sharing of toilets raises the question of how urinals should be arranged for both sexes in the room. While toilets are usually housed in booths with lockable doors, urinals are usually installed openly in a row in gender-separated toilets. This construction method requires less space, allows for more people to urinate at the same time while promoting better hygiene and economics, and keeps the toilet stalls cleaner and more available for those who need them - which is currently one of the main advantages of installing male urinals. One possibility would be to continue offering urinals in rows. These could, whether separated into male and female urinals or as unisex urinals, be separated by so-called "pubic walls".
An alternative would be to accommodate urinals for both sexes in booths or to continue offering urinals for males only. However, this would at least limit the above-mentioned advantages of the urinals for females. Accordingly, the German lawyer and author Marcus Werner sees a significant disadvantage in unisex toilets if these would lead to the elimination of urinals in classic open rows.
Urinals arranged in booths have not been popular, since the advantages compared to conventional toilets were not obvious, given the unchanged space requirement. After 13 years, the four ladies' urinals in the Salzburg Congress Center were removed in August 2015 due to a lack of interest. They have been replaced by conventional toilets.
In the unisex toilets planned for the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin (Texas) in 2017, the urinals are to be located in an area separated from the entrance area by a door. These are designed as unisex urinals and are arranged in open rows within this range. This would allow men and women to use side-by-side urinals in this room, preferably with both sexes standing with their face towards the wall, while those who prefer to not see persons of the opposite sex urinating may use a traditional toilet booth nearby. According to Richard Weiss, the architect who is planning this restroom, this would create the greatest possible freedom of choice for all genders.
At that time, the female urinal was unable to establish itself in Germany, and they were installed only occasionally. In 1902, on the initiative of the City Building Office, a decision was taken in Munich to install women's urinals throughout the city in public convenience stores. A letter to the Kirchmair Board of Directors, for example, explains the plenary decision of the Baumagistrat on 13 February 1902:
This idea was pursued further, so that the documents of 13 January 1906 contained plans for concrete implementation:
In the architectural guide München und seine Bauten ( Munich and its buildings) from 1912, the women's urinals in three public toilets (Lerchenfeldstraße, Ottostraße and Max-Weber-Platz) were mentioned in the chapter on "Nursing homes". In contrast to the actual toilets, these were intended as "freehold toilets", i.e. for free use. They enjoyed great popularity and were highly frequented. In the course of the 1910s, there was no further expansion, probably because the free use did not generate income for the city's treasury funds. Finally, the Freiaborte (free public lavatories) for women were converted into fee facilities. A later proposal by the first female city councillor of Munich in 1922 for the reintroduction of those free urinals was dismissed by the exclusively male directors of the Bade- und Bedürfnisanstalten establishments.
This development at the turn of the century was not followed up in Germany and these first approaches were increasingly forgotten.
On a conventional Flush toilet, the "correct" use is determined by the shape of the sanitary fixture. Amongst other things, Kira investigated the body positions that males and females prefer to use when no external guidelines are given, for example while urinating outdoors. Examples include urinating in the forest, on a rock, or in a hole. He examined the trajectories of the urine stream and its controllability, as well as comfort and health aspects of different body positions. Males usually urinate in a standing posture and direct the stream forward by hand. Females prefer to take a squatting position with the stream controlled by the posture of the entire body and directed vertically downwards to slightly obliquely backwards. This position is generally the most comfortable for females and is associated with the lowest spray dispersion.Möllring, B. (2003): Toiletten und Urinale für Frauen und Männer: die Gestaltung von Sanitärobjekten und ihre Verwendung in öffentlichen und privaten Bereichen. Dissertation at the Universität der Künste Berlin, Faculty of Design (PDF-document)Gershenson, O., & Penner, B. (Eds.)(2009): Ladies and gents: Public toilets and gender. Temple University Press, Kira, A. K. (1976): The bathroom. Penguin Books
Until the 1970s, a few female urinals were available in the United States from different manufacturers, such as the Sanistand by American Standard Companies and "Hygia" by Kohler Co. In the 1980s and 1990s various concepts and prototypes were proposed, although most of them were not developed beyond the design stage. Female urinals have become more common since the turn of the millennium and are marketed commercially, primarily in Europe.
From 1950 to 1973, the American Standard company marketed its mass-produced Sanistand. It did not provide significant advantages over conventional toilets, because it used just as much floor space and water for flushing. Its main selling point was that it was specifically designed for women to use without bodily contact.
Several other commercially unsuccessful designs, like "She-inal" by Kathie Jones (1990s), have been tried since then, but they required the user either to hover awkwardly or to bring her genitals into close contact with the fixture. Current clothes fashions, such as pantyhose and slacks, inhibit females from using them because they do not want their garments to touch the urinal or the floor. In case any females have little experience with urinals and do not know whether to approach them forward or backward, instructions may be posted.
Towards the end of the century the artist Kim Dickey produced several designs of a vitreous china prosthetic that allowed women to urinate while standing upright, while J. Yolande Daniels exhibited a design called FEMMEpissoire in 1996 which, by means of stirrups and leaning back, allowed a user to "allow its user to observe her body evacuating itself of urine", the design being the first with this characteristic. (2026). 9780993351129, Dirty Furniture. ISBN 9780993351129
Lapee mobile urinals have been tested in Toulouse (France). Those of MadamePee - mobile and without water - have equipped the Hellfest festival (Clisson, France) or Solidays (Paris) and longer-lasting events such as Paris Plages.
The current practice for arranging toilets in public space, to allocate an equal surface area for males (seated toilets and urinals) and for females (seated toilets only), is a source of inequality because females require more time in the restroom than males and the less space occupied by urinals makes it possible to increase the number of stations for males. Urinals for females (non-seated position) are therefore a possible means to move towards "equality of urination".
A 2011 study conducted in Australia showed that more than half of the women interviewed would use a urinal if it were available.
The initiative was triggered after 23-year-old Geerte Piening was sentenced to a fine for urinating in public on the street. Her complaint was rejected on the judicial grounds that Piening should have used a street urinal common in the Netherlands. The objection that this was designed only for men was not accepted: "it may not be comfortable, but it is possible". Vrouwen plassen gratis bij Vendor Washrooms tijdens urinoiractie #zeikwijf - vendor.nl Weinig animo onder vrouwen voor Actie Zeikwijf, toch succes - ad.nl "Protests planned at Amsterdam urinals over lack of women's toilets" - The Guardian "Dutch women protest lack of female-friendly public toilets" - dw.com According to one campaign initiator, the problem is that "it isn't possible for women to urinate in a decent, hygienic and dignified manner in a public urinal designed for men." In 2018, a mobile female urinal called the "Yellow Spot" was created around this protest.
As part of this campaign, women in the Netherlands began to urinate demonstratively in public urinals for men. So, the Dutch city authorities are planning to increasingly offer a unisex version of the Urilift street urinals, which are now available in Dutch city centers, and can be used comfortably by men and women.
Unisex urinals, which can be used by both males and females, are being marketed by various companies. However, these unisex urinals, as well as female-specific urinals, are significantly less common than male urinals. You will typically find a higher number of male urinals in men's public restrooms compared to their presence in private homes. This disparity reflects the traditional focus on male urinals in public facilities, which cater to a larger number of people and prioritize quick and efficient use.
Unisex and female urinals, while available, have not yet become as widespread, possibly due to cultural norms and differing levels of market demand. Despite the benefits they offer, such as reduced wait times and water savings, their adoption has been slower.
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