Bathhouse Charged Female Customers an Extra 1,000 Won for Towels... NHRCK: "Gender Discrimination"

Towel Rental Fees Charged Only to Women
"Uniformly Applying Unfavorable Conditions to a Specific Gender Is Unacceptable"

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has determined that charging towel fees only to female customers at bathhouses constitutes gender discrimination.

Towel. Pixabay

On September 2, the NHRCK announced that it had recommended to the mayor of the relevant jurisdiction in July to provide administrative guidance regarding a discriminatory practice at a bathhouse that provided two towels free of charge to male customers with a 9,000 won admission fee, but charged female customers an additional 1,000 won towel rental fee.

The complainant filed a petition against a bathhouse, A Spa Land, for charging women a separate 1,000 won rental fee for two towels despite collecting the same admission fee, arguing that it was "gender discrimination that imposes additional costs on women without reasonable grounds."

In response, the business explained that the towel return rate in the women’s sauna was significantly lower, resulting in reorders and extra costs, which led to the practice of charging women 500 won per towel. The business also stated to the NHRCK that, following the city’s recommendation, it had specified the paid towel policy on the price information board.

The city hall also stated that, since there are no regulations regarding price determination under the Public Health Control Act, there is no legal basis to impose sanctions on the bathhouse.

However, the NHRCK pointed out that "towel loss is the result of individual users’ actions," and noted that "applying unfavorable conditions uniformly to an entire gender without statistical or empirical evidence raises concerns of generalization based on gender stereotypes."

The commission further stated, "Issues related to costs from towel loss or additional use can be addressed by strengthening the return system or charging individually for extra use," and added, "Among the 36 bathhouses operating in the city, 25 provide towels equally to both men and women."

The NHRCK also emphasized that "local governments must not neglect gender-discriminatory pricing simply because there is no legal basis for sanctions."