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Hacks for Bathroom and Other Blockades

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What is a bathroom blockade? That’s when somebody refuses to leave the restroom. Bathroom blockades happen for many different reasons, mostly because people become agitated and confused and/or they are in desperate need of privacy.

Harm reduction OGs caution that though you can prepare for the possibility of bathroom blockades, you cannot prevent them entirely. They are inevitable. The only way you can deal with them is to patiently wait them out while reminding people consistently of the inconvenience they are causing others. Experienced harm reductionists caution against personalizing these events or getting too emotionally invested.

Featured Hacks

These featured hacks highlight creative, practical solutions from harm reduction leaders on the ground. From DIY tools to clever workarounds, each one reflects the ingenuity, care, and real-world experience that keeps this movement alive. 

Edie Springer’s Worker Stances for Clients Who Use Drugs & Harm Reduction Worker: Best Practices

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Harm reduction immediately resonated for Edie, who was herself a former drug user and methadone patient. Faced with the devastation of HIV’s impact on drug-using communities, Edie fully embraced harm reduction and trained hundreds of harm reduction workers who have carried her legacy with them. She developed these worker stances in 1996 and they have been shared among many of us in the harm reduction community for generations.
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Consent Culture

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The concept of “consent culture” emerged from the sex positive movement of the 1980s and 90s. It was a response to the concept of “rape culture”, a term that had been coined to describe the experience that many people—especially women, queer and trans people—have of sexual violence and harassment.
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