Canadian gym-goer shares touching story from women's-only fitness area

Canadian gym-goer shares heartwarming story from women's-only fitness area

Sana Zehra/Submitted | qoppi/Shutterstock

A Metro Vancouver resident is sharing the touching story of how fellow athletes supported her when a male worker came into the women’s-only area of her gym.

Sana Zehra, a Muslim woman who wears a hijab, is a regular at Club16 Trevor Linden Fitness’ South Surrey location. She entered the women’s-only area and took her hijab off, switching to her gym attire — a tank top and leggings.

Zehra was on the treadmill when a woman rushed over and tried to get her attention. The woman explained that she’d seen Zehra walk in with her hijab, and wanted to make sure she’d heard the announcement that a male worker was coming in.

Zehra hadn’t heard — she was listening to a podcast through her headphones.

“We’re not from the same religious beliefs. But they knew. And they were so aware and they respected my religion,” Zehra told Daily Hive. “I told the woman, ‘I’m really thankful and I don’t have words to explain how good I feel for the fact you actually stopped working out and came to me.'”

Zehra left the fitness floor since she was only comfortable being around women in her workout clothes. As she was leaving, a second woman came up to her and said it wasn’t fair Zehra had to end her workout early — adding there’s a reason it’s a women’s-only area.

Zehra told the woman not to worry about it, since she’d already completed half an hour on the treadmill. But sitting in her car, she was so touched by their support that she shared her feelings online.

“They took time out and came to me. It made me feel very confident,” she said. “And I felt like I’m being protected when I have such women surrounding me.”

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The positive interaction with the other women in the gym turned what could have been a negative point into a positive experience. Her post was widely shared and caught the attention of the gym itself. Zehra said staff reached out and apologized, and discussed solutions with her moving forward.

Best practices for women’s-only fitness areas

Any gym or other public building that designates a certain area as a women’s-only space should take steps to ensure that’s what happens in practice, Zehra said.

She’d love to only see female workers in that section of the gym but knows that may not be possible. Instead, she wants to see a specific time when a male worker may be present, and clear signage in-person and online that male staff may be present at that time so she can plan her trips accordingly.

“If you’re not comfortable, avoid coming at that time. And that’s perfectly fine, I would never mind that,” she said. “Or maybe they can do it after hours.”

At Zehra’s gym, staff are now going to fix a half-hour time slot from 9 to 9:30 am when a male worker may enter the women’s-only area, and post notice of it at the entrance.

In all, she thinks the gym did a “wonderful job” of listening to her and making adjustments. Trevor Linden Club 16 didn’t respond to Daily Hive’s request for comment before deadline.

This isn’t the first time Zehra’s had other women come to her aid since she’s lived in Canada. Back when she worked in retail in Toronto, she had taken off her headscarf in the employee break room at Marshall’s when a male colleague pushed the door open. But one of the women in the room with her lept up before she could react, and asked the male coworker to wait a second before coming in.

The empathy and solidarity from other women is inspiring for Zehra, and she said it’s important in making her feel welcome.

“I told my parents, I called them and I said ‘I’ve never felt that respect of my hijab before,'” she said. “It might be a small thing for other people, but I think people who do hijab know how valuable these things are… it made me feel very respected and very included.”