Published: Monday, 20th July, 2009 11:49am

Muslim women's swimming demand

MUSLIM women are having to travel to Slough to swim because of a shortage of women-only sessions in Reading.

They say there should be more sessions during school hours and complain that a female lifeguard is not guaranteed for "women-only" evening sessions meaning Muslim women are unable to swim. Katherine Walkem, pictured, a support worker at Prospect Park mental hospital in west Reading, looked into the problem after requests from Muslim women.

She said: "As there are over 3,000 Muslim women in Reading, I feel a significant number of people are being denied the opportunity to swim. I would urge local pools to create sessions for these women, as a couple of hours a week would make a huge difference to them."

Under common interpretations of Islamic law, men should not be present when women are swimming. Caversham woman Khateeba Chechi, who has five daughters and runs a Muslim mother-and-toddler group, said: "For us, it is part of our faith, but I think a lot of women, not just Muslims, prefer women-only swimming."

She said Saturday afternoon all-female swimming at Arthur Hill in Cemetery Junction is very popular but added: "Women travel to Slough because there are sessions during the day, while their children are at school. My girls queue up there sometimes but there are so many people they can't get in. It's a shame. More sessions are definitely needed." Council spokesman Oscar Mortali said: "The council is in a position where it has to balance the various demands on public sessions from various groups in our community and we try to cater to for all groups wherever possible."

It would like to recruit more female lifeguards and he said: "We do offer women-only sessions at Central Pool on Tuesdays from 7.30-8.30pm where there are six lifeguards, one of whom is female. As they work in shifts we unfortunately cannot guarantee a female lifeguard at every women-only session.

"In addition, the whole of Arthur Hill Leisure Centre is women-only on Saturday afternoons from 3.15-5.15pm, including the pool and the fitness gym, and we do supply a female lifeguard at these sessions."

Return to: Homepage | News Index | This article