Sønderborg’s Committee for Culture, Leisure and Citizenship has refused to remove the option of gender-segregated swimming at its municipal pools, despite calls from the Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek last week for the country’s mayors to use “all tools” to prevent “un-Danish” gender separation. 

“I don’t think it has anything to do with being Danish or non-Danish. When women feel more secure swimming alone, and we can give them the opportunity to do so, then I think we should stick to it, says the chairman of the committee,” Christel Leiendecker.

The decision means women in Sønderborg can continue to swim unaccompanied by men for three hours each week, should they choose to.