Editing Urination (section)

===Urination without facilities===
{{Further|Urinal|Urine deflector|Telescopic toilet|Pissoir}}
{{see also|Public urination}}
[[Image:Mar2024. Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Urinar na Rua e infracao penal. near Praça General Tiburcio.jpg|thumb|A sign in [[Fortaleza]], [[Brazil]], warning that public urination is illegal]]
Acceptability of outdoor urination in a public place other than at a [[Public toilet|public urinal]] varies with the situation and with customs. Potential disadvantages include a dislike of the smell of urine, and exposure of genitals.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saner |first1=Emine |title=The war against wild toileting: is there any way to stop people weeing – and worse – in the street? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/05/the-war-against-wild-toileting-stop-weeing-street-urinating |publisher=Guardian |access-date=19 March 2024 |location=UK |date=5 Apr 2023}}</ref> It can be avoided or mitigated by going to a quiet place and/or facing a tree or wall if urinating standing up, or while squatting, hiding the back behind walls, bushes, or a tree.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

[[Chemical toilet|Portable toilet]]s (port-a-potties) are frequently placed in outdoor situations where no immediate facility is available. These need to be serviced (cleaned out) on a regular basis. Urination in a heavily wooded area is generally harmless, actually saves water, and may be condoned for males (and less commonly, females) in certain situations as long as common sense is used. Examples (depending on circumstances) include activities such as camping, hiking, delivery driving, cross country running, rural fishing, amateur baseball, golf, etc.

The more developed and crowded a place is, the more public urination tends to be objectionable. In the countryside, it is more acceptable than in a street in a town, where it may be a common transgression. Often this is done after the consumption of [[alcoholic beverage]]s, which causes production of additional urine as well as a reduction of [[Social inhibition|inhibition]]s. One proposed way to inhibit public urination due to drunkenness is the [[Urilift]], which is disguised as a normal manhole by day but raises out of the ground at night to provide a public restroom for bar-goers.

In many places, public urination is punishable by fines, though attitudes vary widely by country. In general, females are less likely to urinate in public than males. Women and girls, unlike men and boys, are restricted in where they can urinate conveniently and discreetly.<ref name="Doress-Worters">The new ourselves, growing older: women aging with knowledge and power, Paula Brown Doress-Worters, Diana Laskin Siegal, Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Simon & Schuster, 1994, Page 301</ref>

The 5th-century BC historian [[Herodotus]], writing on the culture of the [[Achaemenid Empire|ancient Persians]] and highlighting the differences with those of the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]], noted that to urinate in the presence of others was prohibited among Persians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/herodotus-iii|title=HERODOTUS iii. DEFINING THE PERSIANS – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/herodotus-persians.asp|title=Internet History Sourcebooks|website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu}}</ref>

There was{{when|date=August 2015}} a popular belief in the UK, that it was legal for a man to urinate in public so long as it occurred on the rear wheel of his vehicle and he had his right hand on the vehicle, but this is not true.<ref>{{cite web | title= Legal Curiosities: Fact or Fable? | publisher = [[Law Commission (England and Wales)]] | date = April 2015 | url = http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/Legal_Oddities.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150629195445/http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/Legal_Oddities.pdf | archive-date = 29 June 2015}}</ref> Public urination still remains more accepted by males in the UK, although British cultural tradition itself seems to find such practices objectionable.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2010/01/public-toilet-british-sex-piss|title=From buttoned-up Britain to urine nation|work=New Statesman|access-date=26 February 2011}}</ref>

In [[Islamic toilet etiquette]], it is [[haram]] to urinate while facing the [[Qibla]], or to turn one's back to it when urinating or relieving bowels, but modesty requirements for females make it impossible for girls to relieve themselves without facilities.<ref>Unveiling the Breath: One Woman's Journey Into Understanding Islam and Gender Equality, Donna Kennedy-Glans pg. 69</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rizvi |first1=Sayyid Saeed Akhtar |title=Elements of Islamic Studies |date=1986 |publisher=Bilal Muslim Mission of Tanzania |isbn=978-9976-956-05-4 }}{{pn|date=July 2024}}</ref> When toilets are unavailable, females can relieve themselves in [[Laos]], [[Russia]] and [[Mongolia]] in emergency,{{fact|date=July 2024}} but it remains less accepted for females in [[India]] even when circumstances make this a highly desirable option.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwarzenbach |first1=Sibyl A. |last2=Smith |first2=Patricia |title=Women and the U.S. Constitution: History, Interpretation, and Practice |date=2004 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50296-2 |page=157 }}</ref>

Women generally need to urinate more frequently than men, but as opposed to the common misconception, it is not due to having smaller bladders.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1975 |title=Report of the Task Group on Reference Man |url=https://www.icrp.org/publication.asp?id=ICRP%20Publication%2023 |journal=Report of the Task Group on Reference Man |publisher=Pergamon Press |page=180}}</ref> Resisting the urge to urinate because of lack of facilities can promote [[urinary tract infection]]s which can lead to more serious infections and, in rare situations, can cause [[Renal failure|renal damage]] in women.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=24369 |title=06/07/2002 - Mobile crews must have prompt access to nearby toilet facilities |publisher=Osha.gov |access-date=10 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.urologychannel.com/uti/prevention.shtml |title=Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Prevention – Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) |publisher=Urologychannel.com |access-date=10 February 2013 |archive-date=3 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203083053/http://www.urologychannel.com/uti/prevention.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Female urination device]]s are available to help women to urinate discreetly, as well to help them urinate while standing.