The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on the 9th that it determined a blanket restriction on the use of swimming pools solely because someone is pregnant is discrimination without a reasonable basis.
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the petitioner tried to extend swimming lessons at a sports center in the lifelong education institute of a university in Busan around Aug. last year. The petitioner had been attending for three years. However, a pool employee who saw the "pregnant woman badge" attached to the petitioner's bag—when the petitioner was seven weeks pregnant—moved to restrict use. The next day, an administrative office employee also canceled the registration, saying, "Under internal rules, pregnant women cannot take swimming lessons."
The university said to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), "Swimming lessons take place in a confined space with many participants, posing risks of minor collisions or slipping and other safety accidents, and we canceled the registration in consideration of the health of the pregnant member and the fetus, the safety of other members, and overall class operations."
However, the NHRC's Committee for Remedy of Discrimination determined it was an excessive measure to treat pregnant women as a risk group and impose a blanket restriction on swimming pool use without reviewing individual health conditions and whether exercise is possible, which vary by person.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also said that none of the 42 public swimming pools in Seoul and Busan had rules restricting lesson registration on the grounds of pregnancy. It added that the National Health Information Portal operated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency guides that, in general, there is no need to restrict exercise for pregnant women and that swimming or walking within reasonable limits can be good exercise.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recommended that the head of the university's lifelong education institute prepare measures to prevent recurrence. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said, "In operating sports facilities, it is necessary to establish reasonable standards and procedures that take individual circumstances into account so that unreasonable discrimination does not occur on the grounds of pregnancy."