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P. D. Dey
difficulties can be experienced by pregnant women. Badly designed toilets also deter
children from using them due to fear of darkness or falling down the plughole.” “An
inclusive toilet design should be barrier-free, well ventilated and well lit. To avoid
stumbling, the floor should have a gentle slope to keep the floor dry and prevent it
from slipping.” These issues are crucial and need to be looked at very carefully at
the planning and construction phase.
The guidelines stress that the cleaning of toilets is looked upon as an “unclean”
job, often to be done by women. The idea should be promoted that, irrespective
of gender, everyone has equal responsibility in keeping toilets clean after use. This
aspect needs to be carefully looked at when preparing an action plan or strategy for
operation or maintenance of public toilets. For example, public toilets should have
both men and women as sanitary workers, who should be facilitated with the right
protective gears and equipments.
The costs of gender-inclusive toilets should be budgeted in each phase—design,
construction (with consideration for women across all age groups,) and maintenance (including opening and closing timings, cleaning charter and schedules, cost
of staffing, occupational health and safety, major and minor repairs). Further, tariffs
and subsidies should also be looked at from the gender perspective (e.g. if there is a
user fee, concessions may be provided for elderly women and children).
3 Way Forward
Thus, going forward, a lot more needs to be done to mainstream gender in policies
and programmes related to urban sanitation. Following are a few recommendations:
Mainstream gender in all policies and programmes: Taking the toilets as an
example: It needs to be ensured that women participate in the design of household,
community and public toilets, disposal of menstrual waste products should be mandated to be part of solid waste management plans of cities. For this, there is a need
to spread awareness about gender-responsive solutions for sanitation. This should be
accompanied by a robust monitoring and implementation plan that can evaluate use
patterns and assess impacts on men and women.
Strengthen women’s participation and Equity in decision making: Both men
and women should have an equal voice in decision making. For this, empowerment
of women as managers and decision makers is imperative.
Capacity development: It has been observed that women are generally underrepresented in careers and training on sanitation management. Most of the training
for working professionals is targeted for experts in technology, social development
or hygiene. There is less emphasis on scaling down to women who are responsible
for operation and maintenance. Such trainings are crucial for the sustainability of
sanitation systems.
Resource Mobilization: Women groups need to have access to grants or credit
on concessionary terms for installation and maintenance of sanitation facilities.
Resources should be allocated to civil society organizations and small-scale providers
P. D. Dey
difficulties can be experienced by pregnant women. Badly designed toilets also deter
children from using them due to fear of darkness or falling down the plughole.” “An
inclusive toilet design should be barrier-free, well ventilated and well lit. To avoid
stumbling, the floor should have a gentle slope to keep the floor dry and prevent it
from slipping.” These issues are crucial and need to be looked at very carefully at
the planning and construction phase.
The guidelines stress that the cleaning of toilets is looked upon as an “unclean”
job, often to be done by women. The idea should be promoted that, irrespective
of gender, everyone has equal responsibility in keeping toilets clean after use. This
aspect needs to be carefully looked at when preparing an action plan or strategy for
operation or maintenance of public toilets. For example, public toilets should have
both men and women as sanitary workers, who should be facilitated with the right
protective gears and equipments.
The costs of gender-inclusive toilets should be budgeted in each phase—design,
construction (with consideration for women across all age groups,) and maintenance (including opening and closing timings, cleaning charter and schedules, cost
of staffing, occupational health and safety, major and minor repairs). Further, tariffs
and subsidies should also be looked at from the gender perspective (e.g. if there is a
user fee, concessions may be provided for elderly women and children).
3 Way Forward
Thus, going forward, a lot more needs to be done to mainstream gender in policies
and programmes related to urban sanitation. Following are a few recommendations:
Mainstream gender in all policies and programmes: Taking the toilets as an
example: It needs to be ensured that women participate in the design of household,
community and public toilets, disposal of menstrual waste products should be mandated to be part of solid waste management plans of cities. For this, there is a need
to spread awareness about gender-responsive solutions for sanitation. This should be
accompanied by a robust monitoring and implementation plan that can evaluate use
patterns and assess impacts on men and women.
Strengthen women’s participation and Equity in decision making: Both men
and women should have an equal voice in decision making. For this, empowerment
of women as managers and decision makers is imperative.
Capacity development: It has been observed that women are generally underrepresented in careers and training on sanitation management. Most of the training
for working professionals is targeted for experts in technology, social development
or hygiene. There is less emphasis on scaling down to women who are responsible
for operation and maintenance. Such trainings are crucial for the sustainability of
sanitation systems.
Resource Mobilization: Women groups need to have access to grants or credit
on concessionary terms for installation and maintenance of sanitation facilities.
Resources should be allocated to civil society organizations and small-scale providers