Water, Sanitation and Gender

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009)

Gender identifies the social relationships between women and men. In these, power differences play a major role. Gender is socially constructed; gender relations are contextually specific and often change in response to altering circumstances (MOSER 1993). Class, age, race, ethnicity, culture, religion and urban/rural contexts are also important underlying factors of gender relations.

Gender equality is the equal visibility, opportunities and participation of women and men in all spheres of public and private life; often guided by a vision of human rights, which incorporates acceptance of equal and inalienable rights of women and men. Gender equality is not only crucial for the wellbeing and development of individuals, but also for the evolution of societies and the development of countries. However, gender equality is not yet a fact and although important progress is made (e.g. regarding universal school enrolment, women’s access to the labour market, and women gaining political ground), gender inequality is one of the most pervasive forms of inequality worldwide (UNDP 2005; UNFPA 2005; UN 2007).

The access to clean water and basic sanitation has been declared a basic human right and it is essential for achieving gender equality, sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; WECF 2007; GWA 2006 and UN WATER 2006)

In most societies, women have the primary responsibility for the management of household water supply, sanitation and health. Water is necessary not only for drinking, but also for food production and preparation, care of domestic animals, personal hygiene, care of the sick, cleaning, washing and waste disposal. Because of their dependence on water resources, women have accumulated considerable knowledge about water resources, including location, quality and storage methods. However, efforts geared towards improving the management of the world’s finite water resources and extending access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, often overlook the central role of women in water management (compare to the principles of IWRM).

One of the most observable divides between women and men, especially in developing countries, is in sanitation and hygiene. The provision of hygiene and sanitation are often considered women’s tasks. Women are promoters, educators and leaders of home and community-based sanitation practices. However, women’s concerns are rarely addressed as societal barriers often restrict women’s involvement in decisions regarding toilets, sanitation program and projects. And in many societies, women’s views ― as opposed to those of men ― are systematically under-represented in decision-making bodies (see also hygiene frameworks and approaches).

Women and children often bear the brunt of the lack of toilets and other sanitation facilities. Women, more than men, suffer the indignity of being forced to defecate and urinate in the open, where they often have to walk to remote locations outside the village leaving women vulnerable to assault and potential rape (COHRE et al. 2008). The majority of those using public defecation areas, where hygienic conditions are often poor and disease is close, are women. In the absence of sanitary facilities, women often have to wait until dark to go for toilet. That is why women often drink less, causing all kinds of health problems. Attempting to ‘hold out’ until the evening may result in physical harm, such as urinary tract infections. People may also attempt to modify their diets, by not eating certain fibrous foods such as pulses or leafy vegetables. An unbalanced diet may result in negative long-term health consequences.

In rural areas of many regions, men often do not use stinky pit latrines and relieve themselves in the open, whereas women are dependent on the pit latrines several times a day. In urban areas women and girls face innumerable security risks and other dangers when they use toilets shared with men. Research in East Africa indicates that safety and privacy are women’s main concerns for sanitation (HANNAN and ANDERSSON 2002). With the lack of safe sanitation women’s dignity, safety and health are at stake.

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; COHRE et al. 2008; INTERMEDIATE TECHNOLOGY GROUP 2005 and UN WATER 2006)

Whereas the cleaning of toilets is primarily the responsibility of women, construction and maintenance of pit latrines (digging, repairing and exhausting) is primarily done by men (HANNAN and ANDERSSON 2002). However, in some regions, the task of emptying the latrines falls exclusively on the shoulders of poor women, and the labour-conditions under which they do this work are appalling. In many households, women are also responsible for making sure there is sufficient water for sanitation and there are many cases where women have to pay for water from limited household budgets. Despite the role of women in hygiene and sanitation at household level, toilet construction program that provide income-generation opportunities often presume that only men will be interested in or suited for those tasks.

In the design, location and construction of toilets and sanitation blocks, inadequate attention is paid to the specific needs of women and men, boys and girls. Sanitation program, as with many other development program, have often been built around assumptions of some gender-neutrality. This results in gender-specific failures, such as, toilets with doors facing the street in which women feel insecure, school urinals that are too high for boys, absence of disposal for sanitary materials by women, pour-flush toilets that require considerably more work for women in transporting water. Also, sanitation blocks are sometimes used for multiple functions, including washing and drying, shelter from rain etc., but are not designed for these purposes.

A combination of discrimination, lack of political will or attention, and inadequate legal structures result in neglect of women’s needs and lack of their involvement in sanitation development and planning. The majority of the world’s one billion people living in poverty are women, and the feminisation of poverty, particularly among women-headed households, continues to grow. Land tenure is a significant stumbling block as well; worldwide women own only up to 2% of all land, and therefore often lack access to related assets and resources, including water and land for toilet construction.

During the World Water Forum 4, in Mexico City in 2006, local actions on gender in water and sanitation in Armenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mexico were shared. It was demonstrated that a stronger involvement of civil society groups, in particular women and minority groups, in decision making on sanitation and wastewater management is often necessary to achieve a breakthrough in the sector (WECF n.y.).

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; COHRE et al. 2008)

School sanitation is a neglected problem in many parts of the world. Hygienic conditions are often very poor, meaning that hand-washing facilities as well as separate individual cabins and anal cleansing materials for the pupils are missing in many toilets and that the deplorable conditions often do not comply with human dignity for boys and girls. Children and teachers often do not drink adequately in order to avoid the toilet visit, which has negative impact on their health (see also school campaigns).

Girls, particularly at and after puberty, do miss school or even drop out of their schools due to the lack of sanitary facilities, and/or the absence of separation of girls’ and boys’ toilets. In these situations, girls also stay away from school when they are menstruating (GWA 2006; HANNAN and ANDERSSON 2002). In rural Pakistan for instance, more than 50% of girls drop out of school in grade 2-3 because the schools do not have latrines (UNICEF 2008). An assessment in 20 schools in rural Tajikistan revealed that all girls choose not to attend when they have their periods, as there are no facilities available (MOOIJMAN 2002). Lack of adequate toilets and hygiene in schools is a key critical barrier to girl school attendance and girls education. If sanitation facilities fail, women might not attend (vocational) training and meetings (GWA 2006). Simple measures, such as providing schools with water and safe toilets, and promoting hygiene education in the classroom, can enable girls school attendance, and reduce health-related risks for all (UN WATER 2006).

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; HANNAN and ANDERSSON 2002)

Apart from the gender-specific issues mentioned, the gender perspectives of sustainable sanitation projects have not been fully explored yet. HANNAN and ANDERSSON (2002) remind us that women are actively involved in food crop production and food security in many parts of the world, and would be directly affected by increased soil nutrients provided through ecological sanitation solutions, for their rural and urban agriculture (see e.g. use of urine and faeces in agriculture).

For example, composting toilets in use in South India require much less water than water flush toilets, favoured by more well off families. This reduces the work burden for women in providing water for the toilets. In Zimbabwe women in some rural areas preferred the waterless alternative - the arborloo ― to the conventional pit latrines as they can be built closer to the house. Filled pits are used by women for planting fruit trees while men expressed appreciation of the Arborloo because the pits are smaller and require less labour in building.

Women’s attitudes towards urine diverting dry toilets (UDDT) seem to be more positive than those of men. Women would like to have the toilets in house, as that would reduce walking distances also during bad weather conditions, but often there is not enough room in the house. They are also often more willing to use the fertiliser in their fields and gardens. Therefore women and children (via schools - see invalid link) could play an important role in motivating and educating others to use reuse-oriented toilets (see also recharge and reuse).

Some experts, however, warn for the fact that sustainable sanitation systems such as UDDTs require more work in cleaning, maintenance, and application of urine and faeces. Women do much of that work, so that could add to their work burden. Therefore, it is important to closely monitor these projects and operations in a gender specific way. Also, women need more education because it is not allowed to throw tampons and other menstruation materials in the toilets (especially in the UDDTs) and the use of urine diverting toilets is a little more complicated for women.

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; ADB 1998; ADB 2006 and GWA 2006)

In order to achieve gender equality, women’s empowerment and full participation are important strategies. The process to thoroughly integrate a gender perspective in institutions and operations is called gender mainstreaming. According to the ECOSOC definition gender mainstreaming is: “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or program, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and program in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality" (ECOSOC 1997).

As has been argued above, there is an urgent need to bring a gender perspective into the sanitation and hygiene sector, and to involve and address both women and men in these efforts. Gender mainstreaming leads to benefits that go beyond good water and sanitation performance, including economic benefits, empowerment of women, more gender equality and benefits to children.

Gender mainstreaming works best through an adaptive, process-oriented approach, that is participatory and responsive to the needs of the poor. Specific institutional arrangements are necessary to ensure that gender is considered an integral part of efficient and effective planning and implementation. This encompasses, for example, the development of gender policies and procedures, commitment at all organisational levels, the availability of ― internal or external ― gender expertise. Gender must be addressed in policy formulation and by-laws (see policies and legal framework). The following elements of the gender mainstreaming process can safeguard a gender perspective in sustainable sanitation.

A gender analysis helps in understanding the socioeconomic and cultural concerns in a project area. At the end of this chapter a list of guiding questions provides the framework for such an analysis. A gender analysis builds understanding of demands and needs of women and men, their respective knowledge and expertise, attitudes and practices, and it draws light on the constraints for women’s and men’s participation in activities (see also stakeholder analysis). In order to make such an analysis, gender disaggregate data and involvement of women and men in sanitation planning, construction and maintenance are needed (UN Water 2006).

It is also important to assess the impact of policies and program on women and men, of different social and age groups. The question should be raised who benefits and who bears the burdens/face drawbacks of these policies and program.

Project teams in the field should strive for a gender balance and be sensitive to gender and related cultural concerns. Selecting field team members with gender awareness, local knowledge, cultural understanding and willingness to listen can improve this.

To ensure women’s participation and involvement, leadership and management training for women can be important project components. Also the training of women to help run and maintain sanitation facilities are part of such empowerment processes.

Financing and budget allocations are often major constraints, as most of the governments delegate the support for and financing of sanitation facilities to local governments. However, the right investments in sanitation and hygiene usually pay off. Adequate resources should be allocated to implement gender strategies in the sector. Gender responsive budgeting could be a useful tool to make sure that women and girls also benefit from hygiene and sanitation efforts.

As not all women (and men) are the same, it is important to classify them amongst different groups: women and men from different age groups, classes, castes and ethnicity, women and men living in poverty, as refugees, and in female-headed households.

In gender mainstreaming in sanitation, one has to be aware of a few pitfalls: (adapted from ADB Asia Water Watch 2015)

• Women may be encouraged to take on sanitation management roles and additional work, but they might receive no additional resources or influence to perform these tasks. This could be the case in particular for UDDT systems, where more maintenance work is required than for pit latrines.
• The introduction of a ‘user pays’ system for toilets and other sanitation facilities may cause a considerable burden for women, particularly for those living in poverty. On the other hand there are also studies showing that women are willing to pay for hygienic and safe toilets.
• If hygiene education is identified solely as a ‘women’s area’, men may stay away from those, and those components may be seen as less important.
• Women may receive more training, but may be prevented from putting their own skills and knowledge into practice by cultural or social norms.

In order to succeed in bringing a gender perspective in sustainable sanitation policies and program, it is imperative to also involve men, enable them to share their views on gender issues and promote their gender sensitivity. Women as well as men have to be recognised as important actors, stakeholders and change-agents in households and communities.

(Adapted from SUSANA-WG12 2009; COHRE et al. 2008; UN WATER 2006; ADB 1998; ADB 2006; UNICEF 2008 and VAN WIJK-SYBESMA 1998)

Without a gender perspective in sustainable sanitation and hygiene policies and efforts, unexpected side effects can occur, such as adding extra burdens for women or men and/or that the constructed facilities do not meet the needs of women and girls. On the other hand mainstreaming a gender perspective in the sector can add to its effectiveness and efficiency. The following guiding questions can be helpful in the process of integrating a gender perspective in sustainable sanitation planning, design and implementation.

Gender analysis:

• Have you investigated the gender issues related to sanitation provision and use in the project area?
• Are women’s (and men’s) needs, interests and priorities regarding sanitation clear?
• What are the gender-specific elements in the sanitation policies and strategies of the government, company or institution?
• Did you use a gender perspective to gather information? Are the gathered data sex-disaggregate?

Institutional aspects:

• Is expertise in social development, sanitation and hygiene education available in the organisation, project or program team?
• Are women and men fully involved in the organisation and have internal discriminatory factors been tackled successfully?
• Are there any constraints for women and/or men to access and control over resources?

Gender impact assessment:

• Will the program objectives and activities have an impact on existing inequalities between women and men, boys and girls?
• How will the program affect women and men? E.g. will their work burdens be in/decreased; their health be affected; economic benefits reached. Is there gender balance in the burdens and benefits?
• Is the budget gender sensitive?
• Gender Specific Monitoring and Evaluation: Do you measure and monitor for separate effects on women, men, girls and boys? How?
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Location and design:

• Does the design and location of sanitation facilities reflect the needs of women and men?
• Are toilets situated in such a way that physical security of women and girls is guaranteed?
• Is the location close to home and is the path well accessible and well lit?
• Are separate toilets for women and men, boys and girls constructed and maintained (e.g. in schools, factories, public places)?

Technology and resources:

• Does the technology used reflect women’s and men’s priorities and needs?
• Is the technical and financial planning for ongoing operation and maintenance of facilities in place? And how are women involved?
• Have funds been earmarked for separate sanitation facilities for girls and boys, and for hygiene education in school curricula? (See also school campaigns)

Empowerment and decision-making:

• Is women’s capacity developed and their participation in training encouraged?
• Are women and girls enabled to acquire access to relevant information, training and resources?
• Is there gender balance in decision-making?
• Are women involved in the planning (incl. location and quality) and management of sanitation services?
• Have hygiene education messages been promoted through women’s groups, schools and health clinics?