Women in Berlin will be allowed to go topless in public swimming pools after equality row

The state government in Berlin has announced that women will be allowed to go topless at the city’s public swimming pools.

The move was taken after a discrimination complaint by a woman who was not allowed to go topless in a swimming pool in the capital.

The Berlin senate for justice, diversity, and anti-discrimination said the woman turned to the senate’s ombudsperson’s office for equal treatment to demand that women, like men, can swim topless.

In reaction to the complaint and the ombudsman’s involvement in the case, the Berliner Baederbetriebe, which runs the city’s public pools, decided to change its clothing rules, the Senate said.

Ombudsman chief Doris Liebscher said: ‘The ombudsperson’s office very much welcomes the decision of the Baederbetriebe, because it establishes equal rights for all.

Berliners, whether male, female or non-binary, and because it also creates legal certainty for the staff at the Baederbetriebe.’

She added: ‘Now it is important that the regulation is applied consistently and that no more expulsions or house bans are issued.’

In the past, women who bared their breasts at Berlin pools were asked to cover themselves or to leave the pool and were sometimes banned from returning.