The female sanitation experience

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the lack of safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene facilities in the home, at school, and at work. It is vital that the needs of females are prioritised in order to achieve gender equity and to lock the potential of half of global society. Women are not only responsible for collecting water, a time-consuming and onerous task, but they also face other sanitation related obstacles, which compromise their ability to lead a healthy, safe and productive life.

In my previous blogs, I have explored the lacking availability and accessibility of sanitation facilities within communities where it has become evident that most households do not possess a private toilet. This disproportionately effects women who are forced to use insecure facilities outside the home, posing many health risks, as these facilities are often unclean and ill-maintained. Where toilets aren't available or accessible, it is not uncommon that residents opt for open defecation instead. As a consequence of socio-cultural taboos which deem it unacceptable for women to be seen defecating, many are forced to leave home before dawn or after nightfall to maintain their privacy. This further exacerbates the issue of women's safety as it increases the chance of them becoming subjected to violent and sexual assaults. Moreover, in order to maintain their safety, women have reduced their intake of liquids so they don't have to urinate as frequently, and as a result have developed various health problems, such as urinary tract infections.

Are menstruation cycles perpetuating deprivation cycles?

A woman's menstrual experiences are concurrently framed by local sanitation provisions and cultural beliefs and practices relating to menstrual blood.

It has been noted in a study on menstrual hygiene management in South Africa that there are three areas of concern:

1. The availability of privacy and space for women to manage their menses.

As a cultural stigma dictates that all menses should be hidden, women feel compelled to hide their MHPs beyond the view of men, children, dogs, and witches. It is due to this sense of "invisibility" that these women are in such need of highly desirable, private, and safe sanitation facilities. Poor construction of pit latrines, and the communal nature of community ablution blocks are seen to inhibit this privacy, failing to provide a safe and private space for women to manage their menses. 

Figure 1: A poorly construction pit latrine

2. The existence of adequate facilities, including water supply

Girls and women stay at home if their place of work or education do not provide safe and dignified sanitation facilities. This consequently decreases the productivity of women, preventing them from completing valuable work, as well as contributing to school absenteeism for young girls, where it negatively impacts their progression up the educational ladder following puberty. Furthermore, even when there are sanitation facilities available within schools they are often prepared by male masons, and thus don't cater to the specific needs of girls and therefore these students continue to stay at home during their monthly cycle.

Further complicating the issue, precarious water supplies mean that regular handwashing becomes infrequent after changing MHPs, further exacerbating the gendered disparities caused by insufficient sanitation facilities. In a study of schools on South Africa, many young girls took the risk of going to the dam during their breaks to wash their hands, therefore creating a further risk to their safety. 

3. The potential for blockages in sanitation systems caused by inappropriate disposal of menstrual hygiene products (Sebastian et al. 2013)

Period poverty is a prevalent issue in many settlements across Africa, where women don't have access to MHPs. Where they do, there are insufficient ways of disposing of their menstrual waste. The choice of product and the related disposal method such as reusing, burning, or dumping products in garbage of in sanitation systems, are shaped by cultural normals, local knowledge and available resources. A study in South Africa found that women actively tried to conceal evidence of their menstrual products, where even if the toilets had sanitary disposal facilities, they were neglected in fear that other members of the community would see evidence of their menstruation. In this way, the improper disposal of menstrual hygiene products creates both physical and systematic blockages in sanitation system.

Because this subject still remains a cultural taboo within many villages across South Africa, there is little conversation taking place as to how to handle and manage menstrual waste in a way that is dignified, safe and non-disruptive. At the local level, there needs to be greater advocacy for women's concerns, fears and routines relating to their menstruation in order to effectively implement change through planning, so that sanitation systems cater to the specific needs of women and girls.