This petition was started following a visit to my local swimming pool with my children, where I was disturbed by the behaviour of a lone adult, using the child's pool. This adult was not disabled nor was he a non/weak swimmer, which are some of the reasons why adults prefer to use these pools, he was behaving in a manner that suggested he was there for the children. When I raised my concerns, I was informed the facility were aware, were also concerned but were unable to do anything.

Children should be able to play safely, as parents we try to protect our children as best we can. Local authorities and the government also use lots of safety measure's to protect children. Unfortunately leisure facilities are unable to protect our children as much as we/they would like. Currently we are not allowed to discriminate against lone adults or groups of adults who wish to swim in the child's area.

Meaning paedophiles who are wishing to use this opportunity to sexually assault or groom children are continuing to do so. Children are obviously vulnerable, being in their swim wear, covered by water, and then changing in areas that are accessible, to anyone attending with the intention of sexual gratification, sexual assault or to groom children. There are adult only swimming sessions. There are also women only session in gyms. Why can there not be family only sessions?

Many councils have tried and failed to have the Law changed following so many reports and convictions for sexual assault on children and child grooming in their swimming facilities. The government needs to act now to stop this happening.

This is not about discrimination this is about protecting children.

This is not a petition to stop lone/groups of adults using splash/childs pool. There could still be sessions where all are welcome. This is a petition to give an option to parents who would like their older child to go swimming without fear of groups targeting them for the purpose of grooming. This is a petition to give families the option to take their child/children to a swimming session without the fear of anyone using this opportunity for their own sexual desires! This is a petition for anyone who has felt uneasy following a session where an adult has been behaving in a way that makes you feel unsafe.

If this Law is not changed then the government will be continuing to allow our children to be at risk of paedophiles who are using these facilities for sexual gratification, sexual assults and child grooming. We will never stop there being paedophiles, but we can make small changes to decrease the risk of them getting near to our children. We need to stand together to keep our children safe.

Thank you to all that are supporting this need for change.