Shaina NC: Lack of toilets: Why only women suffer

While we are advancing with breakthroughs in space technology the very basic needs of some of our citizens are not being met I was flabbergasted to learn from Payal Tiwari of the Observer Research Foundation that in the Ambujwadi slum at Shiv Shankar Nagar in Malvani there is no toilet The state of women there is horrific and in my opinion nothing short of criminal This cannot be the same Mumbai in which we live but reality is a saddening truth The trauma most women go through because of lack of good sanitation and toilets when living in informal urban settlements in Mumbai is magnified a hundred times here According to Tiwari there are only four toilet blocks are used by 3300 households which are locked for people outside the locality where they exist This means the majority of residents are forced to defecate in the open This has a huge impact on the lives of the women who live thereShaina NCIn almost all the households here the women have given up their work because they fear for their daughtersrsquo safety and dignity when they go to the toilets and always accompany them The nearby open jungle has been designated as the community toilet and men and womenrsquos sections have been identified But it is the women who continue to suffer They must protect their dignity from regular peeping toms hiding in the jungle who video record them while defecating Some men have also been spotted with their pants down making lewd gestures at women In the monsoon the area becomes slushy leading to bad accidents especially among the elderly ladiesIn two separate incidents a girl was abducted when she went to defecate never to be heard of again while on another occasion a woman was saved by her alert motherinlaw from being dragged away by druggies Women also have to keep a look out for wild pigs that could attack them at any timeWhat disturbs me the most is that in order to avoid going to the jungle many women especially the pregnant ones use a designated sari to defecate in The significance of this reality is not lost on meIt is no wonder then that across Mumbai where millions of women face neverending sanitation challenges daily apart from the constant humiliation to their psyche they must also endure protracted illnesses like bladder control urine urinary tract and vaginal infections chronic constipation chronic dehydration stress muscle cramps irritability lethargy weakness gas problems and challenges to their menstrual hygiene Lack of clean toilets mean women are unable to change sanitary napkins for long hours which can lead to bacteria infectionsWhy do we need good and wellmaintained public toilets in a city like Mumbai Gynaecologist Dr Suman Bijlani informs ldquoWomen need to urinate Water is a most essential ingredient for almost all metabolic processes which happen in the human body Adequate water intake is essential for good digestion excretion skin health and mental processes regular bowel movement Without a decent toilet what does a woman dordquoIn the monsoon diarrhoea dysentery and typhoid are quite common Obviously in unhygienic toilets this spread is much more likely given that these toilets are filthyThere is wide gap between demand and supply Did you know that in Mumbai currently there is only one toilet seat per 1800 women and that there is a shortfall of over 65000 public toilet seatsFurther the safety and security of women will always be at stake if there are no toilets inside houses It is no wonder then that activists and many women in the slums are against having womenrsquos toilets manned by menAs I see it the root problem lies at the lack of willingness to address public issues A comprehensive uniform policy for the maintenance and construction of public toilets is what we need Hollow promises made by politicians during election time will only compound the problems for womenAmbujwadi is a glaring example of this Here the women say that many activists and politicians have come and gone over 20 years during elections promising change Meanwhile the women still find themselves squatting in the open to defecate and the space they designated for the construction of toilets some years ago has now become a dumping groundThe significance of their reality is not lost on meWrite to me at shainancnowgmailcom or tweet shainaNC with solutions Letrsquos start a movement todayRead PART ONE PART TWO and PART THREE