With the changing time, the landscape of rural India is also witnessing a significant change. Villages occupy 66% population in India today. The density of the population has increased and forests have decreased. With the increase in population and depleting forests area and open space, the need for washrooms is felt by the people of the community. Even today, India is not yet open-defecation free.
A lot has been written around it. Some believe that the need is not greatly felt and others believe that the lack of political will is the reason. There are many reasons and problems but we also need to analyze through the gender lens. The problem of sanitation cannot be seen through one lens. It is interconnected and interrelated.
Initial Cost And Return
Under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, huge importance was given to building toilets. Yet, in my experience of working with few villages of Shahdol District, it is clearly evident the villages still do not have toilets. One of the major issues is the subsidized amount which the panchayat pays to the individual to get a toilet made. Reimbursement of a total amount of 12,000 is paid and the total cost of building a toilet is variable and roughly costs close to 20,000 and more.
Moreover, the delay in the payment of the amount makes it difficult to get a toilet made. Through interaction with people of the community, I learnt that the average they earn in a month is around Rs. 5000 to 8000. In addition, getting a toilet made is an added expense which requires a lot of water usage. Therefore, a family avoids getting a toilet made.
The villages I work with do not yet have a piped water connection. The people who can afford it use a borewell and a few heavily rely on different sources of natural water bodies. Therefore, defecating in the open becomes a viable option as it requires less amount of water.
Women’s Narrative And The Issue Of Sanitation
A lot of women have trained themselves not to defecate at night. They wait till early morning or till dawn to go out and defecate. In case of extreme need, they have to go along with a family member (especially womenfolk) of the household to defecate in the open. During the time of menstruation, to make less use of sanitation, they prefer drinking less water and changing their clothes, roughly only twice.
The problems get worse during the time of extreme weather conditions and menstruation. During raining seasons, defecating in the open comes with a lot of risks and during menstruation, the women avoid going out. The risk of getting bitten by a snake, bugs or getting slipped due to wet surfaces. Taboo and stigma make things worse. As they cannot change the clothes or sanitary pad, they wear it till they can wash it off and dispose of it. Therefore, the common issue the women shared was of itchiness and rashes during the time of periods.
The taboo that the sanitary pads should be washed before disposing of it shuns women to change the clothes. In addition, during rainy seasons, it becomes difficult to burn it or put it in a pit. These processes make the time of menstruation difficult for women during the time of menstruation. During the time of an upset stomach and frequent urination, it adds to the already existing worries.
Gender Lens
Gender analysis of any policy is important as it makes it easy to understand the need for any infrastructure. Proper sanitation and toilets with water give women a sense of freedom from physiological barriers and make it easy for them to do different activities.
We have to realize that sanitation is a gender issue, it needs to be tackled to make a safe space for women. A single toilet would make it easy for her to change her sanitary pads and clothes. Further, the risk involved in defecating in the open can also be decreased. As a research paper Household sanitation facilities and women’s risk of non-partner sexual violence in India has mentioned the risk of Non-Partners sexual violence while defecating in the open. The paper draws the correlation between sanitation and violence. Therefore, a single toilet with water can bring a meaningful change.
It would make her do daily activities and further, and that time of the month would be less stressful!
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program