Violence, gender and WASH: spurring action on a complex, under-documented and sensitive topic

Abstract

The global community of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) researchers, practitioners and policy makers has to date inadequately addressed the challenge of vulnerability to violence in relation to access to water and sanitation in development and humanitarian emergency contexts. Reasons may include the lack of valid and reliable documentation of girls', boys', women's, and men's experiences of violence while accessing water and/or sanitation facilities; the sensitivity of the topic, with secrecy around individuals' experiences of violence and their sanitation needs further hindering the collection of reliable data; the complexity of understanding the gendered dimensions of vulnerability to violence, with girls and women at least anecdotally reported to be more likely to experience violence in relation to WASH; and the likelihood that many WASH practitioners lack training in gender and violence, affecting their ability to deliver adequate programming and evaluation. In an effort to encourage increased action and learning on the intersection of gender, violence and WASH, a review of the existing evidence and practice was conducted. Findings indicate the need for more systematic, reliable, and ethically conducted monitoring and learning on this topic to build a more solid evidence base, while also refining key principles for improved policy and programming.

Context matters: a multicountry analysis of individual‐ and neighbourhood‐level factors associated with women's sanitation use in sub‐Saharan Africa

“…Violence was associated with lower risk of OD or shared relative to private facility use in some countries (Nigeria, Uganda). This is contradictory to some studies that suggest that women who defecate in the open or use shared/public facilities are at higher risk of experiencing physical or sexual violence as a result of having to go outside the house at night . On the other hand, these findings may be consistent with the literature that suggests women may adopt alternative sanitation strategies to avoid OD or shared/public toilets if they fear they are at risk of experiencing violence .…”

“…plastic bags or bucket toilets) . Other research suggests that women's sanitation use may be affected by their fear of contracting infections from unclean sanitation facilities .…”

Sanitation and Hygiene of Darjeeling City: A Crisis for Women and Adolescent Girls

“…It is almost a proven fact that the lack of sanitation provisions throughout the world has turned women and adolescent girls into the most vulnerable group among all the other groups in the society (WaterAid, 2012;Sommer et al, 2014;UN WATER, 2015;Nallari, 2015;O'Reilly, 2016 (Thara, 2017), and this susceptible state of affairs is present in almost all the developing countries of the world. As stated elsewhere, '[w]omen and girls experience sanitation need differently from men' (Sweetman and Medland, 2017: 154).…”

“…Scholars like Sommer et al (2014: 105), Kulkarni et al (2017: 168), and others have stated that lack of access to toilets or poorly designed and maintained services of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) can increase the vulnerability to violence. Sommer et al (2014) argued that long-distance travel for collecting water or long periods of waiting until the evening to defecate in the dark increases the vulnerability to violence, whereas Kulkarni et al (2017) opined that risk of rape, assault, and other kinds of physical harassment increases in the overcrowded, impoverished urban areas where sanitation facilities are insufficient. In this regard, Nallari (2015: 73) also pointed out 'how lack of access to safe and well-maintained sanitation facilities can contribute to many deprivations (education, free time, privacy, independent mobility) and risk (sexual harassment, assault and health risk), which can be a structural pathway for cyclical gender-based disempowerment and injustice'.…”

Cleaner, Happier, Healthier: Sesame Workshop’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Intervention among Low-Income Groups in Bangladesh and India

“…In addition to mass media, Sesame Workshop works with partners in many countries to implement community-and school-based programs that use multiple channels and resources (audio-visual, print, digital) content, co-created Raya, and adapted its implementation in high-need communities. Raya arose from a unique set of needs: there was a need for a strong young girl character at the heart of the project as WASH issues disproportionately affect girls and young women (Sommer et al, 2015), yet none of the existing options-using a US Muppet character, using a Bangladeshi Muppet character (i.e., familiar in Bangladesh but unfamiliar to other audiences), or using an Indian Muppet character-were ideal; each met with resistance in some way. There were also ambitions for "Cleaner, Healthier, Happier" to be a global behavior change communication program, with a character who will be readily identifiable with WASH issues, who is relatable across geographies, and could serve as a child-friendly messenger for WASH.…”