Editing Cottaging (section)

==Locations==
[[File:Graffiti in Sydney - 0142.jpg|thumb|220px|Graffiti on the side of a cubicle in a male toilet. Sydney, Australia 2024]]
Cottages were and are located in places heavily used by many people such as [[bus station]]s, [[Train station|railway station]]s, [[airport]]s and [[Campus|university campuses]].<ref name=BBC20080408>{{cite news |title='Cottaging' closes campus toilets |author=Johnny Caldwell |date=8 Apr 2008 |newspaper=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7329383.stm |quote=A university toilet block has been closed for more than two years over fears it was being used for sex.}}</ref> Often, [[glory hole (sexual slang)|glory holes]] are drilled in the walls between cubicles in popular cottages.<ref name=Ashford>{{citation|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmcomloc/636/636we25.htm|title=Commons Publications: Memorandum by Chris Ashford, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Sunderland|quote=This submission will focus on addressing the subject of "anti-social behaviour" in public toilets, specifically the subject of sex in public toilets, a practice referred to as "cottaging" ... Evidence of sexual activity in these spaces has traditionally taken the form of sexualised graffiti and/or the drilling of holes in lavatory holes. These holes are termed "glory holes" and dependent upon their size may be to pass a penis through in order for the men to engage in anonymous oral sex and on rare occasions intercourse. They more often serve as a peep hole through to the other toilet or out towards the urinals. On those occasions the person entering the cubicle would check that the adjacent cubicle is empty before unblocking the cubicle hole. These holes are often blocked up by tissue paper which will be removed so that one cubicle occupant can view through to the other. The addition of metal plating on cubicle walls is often an effective mechanism of preventing this. Alternatively the cubicle can be designed with a solid brick wall so as to make the cutting or drilling of a hole impossible.|year=2007|author=Chris Ashford}}</ref> Foot signals—tapping a foot, sliding a foot slightly under the divider between stalls, attracting the attention of the occupant of the next stall—are used to signify that one wishes to connect with the person in the next cubicle. In some heavily used cottages, an etiquette develops and one person may function as a lookout to warn if non-cottagers are coming.<ref name=humphreys/>

Since the 1980s, more individuals in authority have become more aware of the existence of cottages in places under their jurisdiction and have reduced the height of or even removed doors from the cubicles of popular cottages, or extended the walls between the cubicles to the floor to prevent foot signalling.<ref name=BBC20050927>{{cite news |title=A public inconvenience |author=Tom Geoghegan |date=27 Sep 2005 |newspaper=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4285740.stm |quote=To many, the UK's public toilets are a source of national shame. But an international conference under way in Belfast could be the first step towards their rehabilitation.}}</ref><ref name=BBC20060816>{{cite news |title=Council vows to fight public sex |date=16 Aug 2006 |newspaper=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/4797899.stm |quote=A council takes action to stop people using public toilets at a park in Derby for sex.}}</ref>