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However, after patiently queuing, we were told that we would not be allowed to hire a boat. Shocked, we inevitably asked “why not?”
The refusal, we were told, was down to a bullet-pointed policy written on the board: ‘YorkBoat (operators of RedBoat) reserve the right to refuse to hire a RedBoat to anyone deemed likely to breach the terms of hire. All male or all female parties may be refused hire.’
This policy is explained further on the YorkBoat website: ‘(Please note that YorkBoat reserve the right to refuse single sex groups/hen and stag parties).’
Now, I would have fully understood being refused if we had turned up as a stag party; beers in hand, staggering along the river and joining the queue on a drunken whim. But we were completely sober, not part of a stag-do, had no alcohol in our possession, and it was lunchtime; all points we made clear.
The excuse the steward gave us was as follows: If a group of drunken lads saw us get on, they would think it was ok for them to also hire a boat, and therefore we cannot hire a boat.
Despite saying that we were not drunk, and that we had neither the means, nor intention, to drink on the boat (we had three bottles of coke and some sun cream), we were still told that we could not hire a boat.
After looking again at the ‘single sex group’ policy on the board, I asked this question: “So, if we had one woman with us, would we be allowed to hire the boat?” The answer: “Yes.”
After a period of silence and awkward, angry laughter, all three of us walked away, utterly stunned. We were turned away, according to the steward, solely due to the fact that we were three men. This was made explicitly clear. Outraged, we contacted YorkBoat to question them on the issue, but they are yet to reply.
Some online research revealed that such an incident is not uncommon amongst boat hire services, and in some cases caravan hire services, in the UK. It seems that such ridiculousness extends far beyond RedBoat York.
One blog in particular claimed that TWO women were refused boat hire because they constituted a ‘single-sex party.’ Personally, I didn’t think we, as three men, constituted a ‘party’, let alone two women.
Hire services need to explicitly make clear how many people are required to form a ‘group’ or a ‘party’ before deciding to refuse service to any combination of people.
The more we thought about it, the more utterly absurd the policy seemed. What basis did the policy have? No stag or hen parties seemed logical, but why only single sex parties? What prevents a group of four men and four women (RedBoat’s capacity is eight people) behaving badly? Are they more likely to behave because they are mixed sex?
We thought up several scenarios, assuming that two or more people constitute a party: A married couple wishes to hire a boat – allowed. Two men or women in a civil partnership wish to hire a boat – not allowed.
Three or even two men wish to hire a boat – not allowed (presumably due to an assumption that we would damage the boat or behave badly). SEVEN men and ONE woman hire a boat – allowed, because it is not a ‘single sex party’.
Two women and one man wish to hire a boat – allowed. Three women wish to hire a boat – not allowed. Sorry ladies – you need a man present to board this boat!
According to www.yourrights.org.uk, The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act “makes it unlawful for a person providing goods, facilities or services to members of the public to directly or indirectly discriminate (or victimise) on the grounds of sex [...]. This covers a wide range of public and private services, including pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels, transport, banking, insurance, hire purchase, recreation and entertainment.”
One friend I talked to believes RedBoat York did not discriminate because both sexes, when separate, are refused hire, rather than just one. However, does discriminating against both sexes separately cancel out the two separate acts of discrimination? Furthermore, another RedBoat sign we found simply read “No Alcohol. No Male Groups”, indicating a much more biased policy regarding single sex hire.
Ultimately, refusal to hire should be based on each individual group, not gender. If a group of men and women together seem drunk or disorderly, refuse them. But to refuse a group of one sex, with absolutely no evidence or reason to think that they will behave badly on a boat, solely due to the fact that they are either all men or all women, is ridiculous.
RedBoat York’s policies on single sex hire, and similar policies across the U.K., are badly thought out, poorly executed, outdated and illogical. They need to change.
The views expressed in this article are of the individual writer and in no way those of the yorker.
Another question that should be raised is that of age. Somehow I doubt a group of well-dressed middle-aged men in the same situation as you would be refused. As students, the best we can do is boycott the company, though tbh, that's not going to be a huge loss to them. Their busiest months are when most of the students have gone home!
A clear example of Hodgson's First Law of Social Dynamics: the less power a jobsworth has, the more likely he is to wield it in a petty and nonsensical manner. In this case, not letting three young men use a river boat because, erm, other young men may see them and decide to act foolishly - whereas if they were in the company of a young woman this would not occur. Bizarre.
In a bizarre twist last week I saw ONE male redboat worker driving EIGHT boats along the river at the end the end of the day (they were all tied together). Wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
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