New field kit to break down toilet taboo on field trips

For some students at Geoscience, field trips have been synonymous with not drinking water for a whole day, postponing one's period with birth control pills, and holding it in for several hours. These are some of the methods students have used so far to get through field trips without having to go to the toilet. This is according to two associate professors from Geoscience, Timothy Patrick Lane and Henrieka Detlef, who have taken the initiative to create a new field kit that makes it possible to go to the toilet on field trips. The field kit consists of a toilet tent, which provides privacy during the toilet visit, and a backpack with tampons, pads, and other hygiene items. In addition, the kit also consists of a shovel, painkillers, and electrolytes to keep blood sugar stable. 

"It is mandatory to have the field kit with you on field trips," says Henrieka Detlef. 

Regarding the reasoning behind the initiative, Timothy Patrick Lane explains: "A proportion of the students have found it very difficult to go on the trips and have used extreme methods, such as not drinking water during the field trip because they feared having to pee. The fact that this became the norm is simply not okay," he says, adding that not all students need the new field kit.

"There are definitely some who have done fine without the field kit, as they are outdoorsy people and have been so all their lives," says Timothy Patrick Lane, who has also been on field trips at a university in the UK, where a field kit was developed. 

The new field kit at AU has been developed in collaboration with the students, and the two associate professors have taken the students' experiences from the field trips into account. According to the two associate professors, it’s been important for them to involve the students, both in order to familiarise themselves with the problems and to send a signal that they are aware of the taboo. 

Women in particular feel excluded from field trips

The field trips usually take place on beaches without trees to hide behind and generally in places where there are no public toilets available, says Timothy Patrick Lane. 

"We don't think it's respectable to assume that students are comfortable going to the toilet in the wild - especially if they have a hidden disability or are menstruating," he says. 

 Particularly, students who menstruate can feel rather exposed on the field trips when there are no toilets available. Research also points to this, according to the two associate professors. 

"A lot of research shows that field trips without proper toilet facilities are one of the places where women are unconsciously excluded from going on field trips," says Timothy Patrick Lane, who has published an article on taboos regarding menstruation on field trips. 

"I've heard from some female students that they pushed their periods medically (with birth control pills or similar, ed.) if their period overlapped with a field trip," says Henrieka Detlef. 

The field kit is not only meant to make it possible to go to the toilet, but also to normalise toilet visits on a field trip, say the two associate professors.

Stop! We have to pee!

Rebecca Pedersen is in her fourth semester of her bachelor's degree programme in Geoscience, and she has long been annoyed by the lack of toilet facilities. 

"We have experienced sitting in the bus on the way home from a field trip, where everyone had to go to the toilet. We were told that we were not allowed to use the small toilet on the bus, so we had to go to the teacher and ask that we could stop and take a toilet break," says Rebecca Pedersen. 

Rebecca Pedersen says that toilet breaks have kind of been forgotten on the field trips. 

"Some of the teachers have a strict view on toilet breaks, and say that that's just how it is if you get a job with field trips in the Alps or something similar. Then you just have to do your thing in nature," she says. 

"But we are students at a university, and any other workplace would not remove the toilets and say: now you have to work from 8 to 4 p.m. without being able to go to the toilet properly," says Rebecca Pedersen. 

Rebecca Pedersen is one of the several students who have had to hold it on field trips or refrained from eating and drinking to avoid toilet visits.

"It completely destroys your concentration. If you have to go to the toilet and you’re standing in the middle of a beach, then you can't think of anything else. And then the teacher will say something important, but I have not been able to concentrate on it," she says. 

However, Rebecca Pedersen is optimistic about the future with the new, mandatory field kit. At the same time, she also hopes that the attention paid to the field kit means that it will continue to develop and that employees will take it seriously. 

Aims to normalize toilet visits

The rumour about the new field kit has spread to other degree programmes, they explain. 

"There is actually some staff from biology who have contacted us because they are interested in hearing more about the field kit. We are very open to sharing our experiences," says Henrieka Detlef. 

"The entire idea behind the field kit is 50 percent the physical kit, and the remaining 50 percent is talking about it," says Timothy Patrick Lane. 

However, the two associate professors are aware that using the toilet tent or having to ask for the backpack on a field trip can still feel awkward for some students. 

"There will always be some who are very shy about things like that. And we've also heard from some that they won't be using the tent because it attracts too much attention," says Timothy Patrick Lane.

"When I've been out on field trips, I've told the students where I've put the field kit, so they don't have to ask for it in front of everyone or me," he says. 

And yes, the field kit has already been put to use, and the students have provided positive feedback. 

Lucas Jacobsen is in his fourth semester of his bachelor's degree programme in Geoscience, and has been on a field trip with the new field kit. 

"Most of us probably prefer a real toilet, but it's a good solution when there are no other options," he says. 

Lucas Jacobsen says that they are out in the field a lot, and that it has not always been standard for the teachers to include breaks for toilet visits. But they have gotten much better over time, he says.

"It is a requirement for us students that we can go to the toilet. We are often given an excursion plan before the field trip, and it would be great if this could encompass toilet breaks," he says. 

Lucas Jacobsen is not one of the students who has used extreme methods, but he has experienced having to hold it.

"I’ve held it for a really long time because I figured there would be a toilet break soon, on a field trip," he says. 

 Lucas Jacobsen can sense that the department has become more aware of the problem. He also says that the proportion of female students is increasing, and that there has been a heightened focus on toilet and hygiene breaks on the field trips. 

"My own class has certainly been very aware that this is something we have a right to," says Lucas Jacobsen.  

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Mie Skov Jeppesen.