Voyeurs spy in women's locker rooms

On the afternoon of Dec. 22 just a little after 4 o'clock, as the sky was darkening, Cal State Long Beach physical education instructor Betty Edmondson finishes teaching her final class of the day. Before she goes home she needs to make a quick stop at her office in the Physical Education Building.

She weighs her options. She could walk outdoors through the dimly lit patio area between the women's locker room and men's locker room, or she could walk through the massive and virtually empty women's locker room. Each choice makes her mildly apprehensive, but she chooses the latter route.

As she walks down the corridor of the 21,000 square foot facility she feels a presence, turns and is startled to see a young man on roller blades gliding close behind her. He stops periodically to look between the aisles of lockers.

Because of his preoccupation he does not see her, and nearly falls when she yells, "Hey, you! What the hell are you doing here?"

Though taken aback he mumbles, "looking for a friend," and rolls away before Edmondson could use one of the newly installed emergency phones.

The peeper on wheels was not a unique happening in the new women's locker room.

"Occasionally you get this kind of thing," Edmondson said, "but in the past year it has escalated."

From in the past 12 months nine reports of male voyeurs in the women's locker room have been filed, according to CSULB University Police Lt. Judi King.

Eight of the incidence took place in the locker room between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. The most recent sighting occurred in women's locker room of The Pyramid shortly after 9 a.m.

On the morning of May 10, according to a campus police report, after completing an aerobics class, a student felt as though she were being watched while she showered.

She wrapped a towel around herself and approached slightly ajar door, adjoining the women's basketball locker room. She opened the door to find a man she later identified as a staff member. The door the staff member peered through is generally locked, aerobics instructor Tish Husak said, but some staff members have keys.

The student, who wishes to remain unnamed, told Husak of the incident but was too frightened to file a report with the University Police, Husak said, because she was afraid the voyeur would follow or threaten her.

The student finally filed a report in early April but did not press charges against the staff member. Although the physical education department administrators were informed of the incident the identified staff member continues to works for the department.

When asked what action the department is taking against the identified staff member, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services William Sinclair said the accusation was a matter he did not wish to discuss and politely ended the conversation.

Physical Education Chairwoman Dixie Grimmett was unavailable for comment.

There are five doors leading to the women's locker room in the Physical Education Building, although the department has locked the entrance located in the patio area for safety reasons, Edmondson said.

"This does not make the women safer," she said, "it only takes the freedom of access away from them. Students are afraid to use locker rooms because no real efforts have been taken to prevent these (peeper) incidents."

The department has installed emergency telephones and angled mirrors so that female students can see around the many corners of the facility. Although this may help students spot males lurking in the facility, it does not prevent them from entering.

The facility is patrolled by the University Police before the entrances are locked for night, said Lt. King, but there is no specific hour of closure. "Often the locker room is locked up after 11 p.m., depending on campus events," she said.

Because most of the incidence of peeping males occur in the late afternoon Edmondson said she is afraid the administration may chose to close the locker room during that time, rather than coming up with a solution to the problem.

On July 31, 1995 at 7:45 p.m. an approximately 30-year-old male with glasses and short dark hair was spotted watching a female student shower according to a University Police report.

On Sept. 12, 19Ô95 shortly after 6 p.m. a male about 19 years old was seen peering around a corner to watch a woman showering. He fled the scene before he could be apprehended.

On Jan. 8 this year the same man was again spotted in the locker room watching a woman showering. Although the man was gone by the time the University Police arrived, he was later identified in a photo line-up as Kevin Langley, 19.

Langley was arrested and charged with violating Long Beach Municipal Code 9.30.025, a law forbidding a member of the opposite sex from being in a restroom.

At 3 p.m. on Nov. 13, 1995, a male in his 20s was seen videotaping two women showering in the locker room. The University Police were notified but were unable to locate the man, according to the police report.

Some seem to think peeping is no problem as long as the men are only looking and not touching, but this kind of privacy invasion makes women feel as if there is no place to be safe, said Wendy Griffin, associate professor of women's studies.

"It sends out the message that men have access to women's bodies and women cannot control it," Griffin said. "This dramatically hampers women's mobility and safety, making them feel incredibly vulnerable."

Voyeurs, those who observe unsuspecting individuals who are naked or in the process of disrobing, usually do so for the purpose of achieving sexual excitement and generally seek no sexual activity with the observed person, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, a psychology manual.

"The voyeur generally has no intention of accosting or attacking the victim, but gets gratified by the act of viewing," CSULB University Counseling psychologist, Lori Pasion-Gonzalez said. "The voyeur will either masturbate while observing ,or later in response to the memory. Often they have the fantasy of having sex with the individual, but in reality this rarely occurs."

"In its chronic form this (peeping) is the only way a voyeur can achieve orgasm. It usually begins at age 15 and tends to be and tends to be chronic," said Pasion-Gonzalez.

Looking and not touching is a gray area of sexual abuse, she said, because the victim still feels violated and scared, just as if actually physically accosted. "The assumption is this behavior will escalate," Pasion-Gonzalez said.

The aura of potential danger is there, said CSULB Psychology Prof. Martin Fiebert, even if voyeuristic behavior does not usually escalate.

The threat of danger was enough to keep the victims from granting the University Police permission to release their names to the press.

Edmonson suggests eliminating the existence of these potential threats by no longer using an existing classroom located in the locker room and by issuing key cards to the women enrolled in physical education classes.

Students would have to show the cards in order to gain entrance, keeping all those without cards out of the facility. Edmonson also said she does not see any plan like this happening.

With an exasperated shake of her head she asked, "Does the administration need to see a woman get attacked in the building before they do something about students safety ?"