The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that more than a billion women don’t have access to safe drinking water and basic hygiene services, including soap and clean water, and two billion lack access to safely managed sanitation.
Every woman and girl worldwide has a right to privacy, dignity, and safety. Introducing women-specific health and hygiene programs could make billions of women’s lives safer and healthier.
Why Does Sanitation Matter for Women?
Girls and women in low to middle-income countries struggle with poor sanitation significantly more than men. Safe water, sanitation, hygiene, and education are all intertwined when addressing the issue.
For women, the lack of sanitation facilities, including clean and safe toilets, has significant health implications, such as an increased rate of urinary tract infections and transmittable diseases.
Poor women’s sanitation also makes it more challenging to manage menstrual cycle hygiene, which can increase stigma or lead to embarrassment.
In some countries, poor access to sanitation facilities can impact a woman’s safety and make them vulnerable to sexual harassment and assault.
Poor Sanitation Barriers for Women
Gender Equality
Social and gender norms, cultural taboos, and stigma lead many girls to follow unsafe practices, including not bathing while menstruating and, in some cases, being forced to sleep outside.
Promoting good hygiene and menstrual health practices safeguards girls’ and women’s dignity, privacy, self-efficacy, and future.
Health
Girls without access to safe and affordable sanitary materials are more prone to infections and diseases that can affect future fertility and birth complications.
According to studies, providing sanitary pads or menstrual cups to girls can lower the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) and bacterial vaginosis.
Poor hygiene and management of menstruation have a physiological effect on women, too. The taboo and stigma attached to it can cause discomfort and stress, which then can lead to depression, shame, and poor mental health.
Education
Half of schools in low-income countries lack access to clean water, sanitation, and health and hygiene services. It means it’s difficult for women and girls to manage menstruation at school.
Inadequate sanitation facilities can affect a girl’s experience at school, including absenteeism during menstruation and, in some cases, quitting school entirely.
Female-friendly schools that incorporate information on menstruation for both girls and boys can reduce the stigma attached and improve health outcomes.
Economy
Women who don’t have proper access to female-friendly facilities in the workplace may miss work more often, lose that day’s wages, and even be viewed as unreliable, which reduces any chance of advancement.
When a young girl drops out of school, it limits employment opportunities, and she is more apt to marry and have children at a younger age.
Affordable menstrual products, better menstrual hygiene, and improved women’s sanitation allow women to contribute to the overall income.
Environment
Disposable sanitary products add to an already alarming amount of global waste. The average woman throws away around 150 kilograms, or 330 pounds, of non-biodegradable waste each year.
Giving women access to sustainable, quality products and safe disposal methods contributes to a healthier environment.
How Can We Address Sanitation Problems for Women?
Menstruation Hygiene Management (MHM) Training
Changing the narrative surrounding menstruation is the first step in tackling the sanitation crisis for women. It helps girls and women become confident and capable of managing a normal and healthy part of life. Menstruation Hygiene Management (MHM) Training makes female hygiene products available to schools and teaches women hygiene management.
Toilets
For women, especially, a place to use the bathroom and a toilet with dignity are two different things.
Pit or pour-flush toilets offer a simple yet effective solution, allowing feces to be discarded hygienically, which drastically reduces illnesses in both schools and communities. The added benefit of building an adequate toilet is that it provides women with safety and dignity so that they don’t have to wait or expose themselves in the sight of others.
Handwashing
Science has proven again and again that handwashing and soap prevent the spread of disease and are especially important in rural communities. By supplying soap and clean water, women and girls have a way to stay clean during menstruation.
Clean & Safe Water Sources
Safe water and sanitation go hand in hand. Clean water is needed for bathrooms to wash dishes and hands properly. Without it, pathogens can spread quickly in communities.
Women’s labor, often overlooked, is crucial for the everyday survival of their families and communities. With clean water sources often being located miles away from their villages, women are tasked to walk for hours carrying heavy containers, jugs, or buckets full of water for cleaning, cooking, bathing, and drinking.
The addition of nearby water sources not only relieves this burden but also enables girls and women to attend school and work, helping to better their communities and families in a different, more fulfilling way. Water treatment technologies like ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis treat water and remove dangerous contaminants, making it safe to drink, wash dishes, and bathe in. Some programs provide ultrafiltration technologies to developing countries and train local leaders to manage and support the systems.
Drying rack:
A family can help stop the spread of diseases by building a simple drying rack outside.
Washing and drying dishes in the sun rather than near a toilet or water source improves sanitation for entire communities.
How Does Healing Waters Help?
Every woman and girl around the world deserves to know that there is no shame in menstruation and that it is a part of everyday life.
Healing Waters strongly believes that a woman’s value and dignity should never be sacrificed due to poor sanitation and lack of menstruation-related education.
The Healing Water International’s Health and Hygiene Program “Clothed in Strength and Dignity” educates women on personal hygiene and protecting against water-related illness and disease. The program also encourages building a safe space for women in communities. Healing Waters uses all donations to help provide sustainable, safe water solutions and health and hygiene education to women around the world to ensure a blessed quality of life