Gender Transformative Planning
for Urban Sanitation in India
Paramita Datta Dey
1 Introduction
It has been highlighted through various researches
1 that women and adolescent girls
are very adversely affected by lack of access to clean toilets. Poor location, improper
design and insufficient maintenance prevent women and adolescent girls to use public
toilet blocks. Further, they also face many challenges and risks regarding safety and
dignity while using public toilets. Provision of facilities such as water and electricity
are critical to ensure that women use public toilets. Women usually avoid using toilets
at night in the absence of sufficient lighting for fear of safety.
Sanitation issues faced by women are related to the following five spheres:
Education: Numerous reports from both rural and urban areas have highlighted
how girls and adolescent girls drop out of school due to lack of toilets. Even if a toilet
exists, they lack adequate water, electricity, dustbins and other necessary fixtures that
are very crucial elements of a toilet for women.
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM): Amenities to change and dispose-off
menstrual absorbents or menstrual hygiene products are very important to maintain
personal hygiene. Many times, a ladies toilet does not even have a dustbin to disposeoff this kind of waste, which is hazardous if mixed with municipal solid waste.
Health aspects: In the absence of a toilet at home, women control the intake of food
and water to limit urination and defecation. This is because they are able to practice
1 Going to the Toilet When You Want, Sanitation as a Human Right, Human Rights Watch, 2017;
Ending Open Defecation in India: Insights on Implementation and Behavior Change for Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan, Kathryn Alexander et al., Advised by Professor Jeffrey Hammer, 2016; Public
Spaces, Private Acts: Toilets and Gender Equality, by Isha Ray, 2017; Cities through a “gender lens”:
a golden “urban age” for women in the global south? Sylvia Chant, Environment and Urbanization,
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Vol. 25 (1), www.sagepublications.
com.
P. D. Dey (B)
National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India
e-mail: pdey@niua.org
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_5
47
for Urban Sanitation in India
Paramita Datta Dey
1 Introduction
It has been highlighted through various researches
1 that women and adolescent girls
are very adversely affected by lack of access to clean toilets. Poor location, improper
design and insufficient maintenance prevent women and adolescent girls to use public
toilet blocks. Further, they also face many challenges and risks regarding safety and
dignity while using public toilets. Provision of facilities such as water and electricity
are critical to ensure that women use public toilets. Women usually avoid using toilets
at night in the absence of sufficient lighting for fear of safety.
Sanitation issues faced by women are related to the following five spheres:
Education: Numerous reports from both rural and urban areas have highlighted
how girls and adolescent girls drop out of school due to lack of toilets. Even if a toilet
exists, they lack adequate water, electricity, dustbins and other necessary fixtures that
are very crucial elements of a toilet for women.
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM): Amenities to change and dispose-off
menstrual absorbents or menstrual hygiene products are very important to maintain
personal hygiene. Many times, a ladies toilet does not even have a dustbin to disposeoff this kind of waste, which is hazardous if mixed with municipal solid waste.
Health aspects: In the absence of a toilet at home, women control the intake of food
and water to limit urination and defecation. This is because they are able to practice
1 Going to the Toilet When You Want, Sanitation as a Human Right, Human Rights Watch, 2017;
Ending Open Defecation in India: Insights on Implementation and Behavior Change for Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan, Kathryn Alexander et al., Advised by Professor Jeffrey Hammer, 2016; Public
Spaces, Private Acts: Toilets and Gender Equality, by Isha Ray, 2017; Cities through a “gender lens”:
a golden “urban age” for women in the global south? Sylvia Chant, Environment and Urbanization,
International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Vol. 25 (1), www.sagepublications.
com.
P. D. Dey (B)
National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India
e-mail: pdey@niua.org
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_5
47