Woman left 'violated and belittled' following racist abuse in changing rooms of expensive gym in Northampton

The victim, who has been a member of the club in Collingtree Park for several years, said the incident happened in the women’s changing rooms on the evening of Friday October 4.

Speaking to Chronicle & Echo, the woman in her 50s said: “I walked into the changing room and wasn’t paying much attention to who was in there. I heard somebody say, ‘A p*** has just walked in.’ I looked up and there was a woman sat down on her phone. We made eye contact and she said, ‘Yeah, you, p***. I’m on the phone to my dude.’”

The victim said she grabbed her belongings and left immediately. She said: “At the time it felt like it wasn’t happening. I didn’t realise I’d just been called a p*** until I was walking home and had time to reflect. That’s when it hit me. I felt very violated and belittled.”

The following day, the victim reported the incident to staff. She says she was left feeling that they had empathy with what had happened and had offered no apology. She says she was also told that if the culprit was found, the most they would be given was a verbal warning.

"That’s when I got really upset. I had been racially abused and it was just a slap on the wrist,” she said, adding that the situation had left her feeling “frustrated and angry”.

The victim left an “angry” feedback message on the Virgin Active app. She said she was telephoned immediately and they tried to diffuse the situation, but she still felt there was a lack of duty of care.

After she escalated the issue, she said it took around ten days before she heard from anyone at Virgin and was told that it would be impossible to check “hundreds of hours of CCTV”.

The woman says she has been left feeling angry and alienated.

She said: “There’s been no accountability, no genuine care or empathy. It makes me angry that they think they can just not do anything.”

She now rarely attends the gym.

“I normally go every day, but since this happened, I’ve only been three or four times. It’s made me not want to go back,” the woman added.

The woman wants Virgin Active to take responsibility. She said: “I want them to take accountability and say, ‘Yeah, we’ve messed up’. I want a genuine apology and to know what measures they’ll put in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

A Virgin Active spokesperson said: “Virgin Active takes any allegation of discrimination or abusive behaviour seriously, including racist behaviour. We have a zero-tolerance approach across our clubs and investigate all reports thoroughly.

“This matter was escalated to our senior management team which continues to engage with the member to try and identify the individual involved.”

In response, the victim said: “No one from Virgin Active has been in touch with me from the beginning - I’ve been the one constantly chasing them. I’ve never been contacted to help identify the abuser. The case was escalated to their senior management team, but I received an email from the regional manager saying it wasn’t within her remit. The experience manager at head office, also emailed me with no explanation of what’s been done or what will happen next. “It makes me so angry that they’re still brushing this under the carpet. Every interaction feels like they’re defending Virgin Active rather than showing any care towards me or taking accountability for their failings in this situation.”