A qualitative study of access to sanitation amongst low-income working women in Bangalore, India

Abstract

In India, access to sanitation amongst the urban poor remains low, and women are worse affected than men. Little is known about barriers to sanitation at the workplace, a location where working adults spend close to half of their waking hours. To explore access to sanitation facilities at the workplace amongst poor urban women, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 48 women working in low-income jobs in Bangalore. Access to sanitation varied by occupation group, with construction workers and domestic workers being the worst affected, and factory workers and street vendors better off. Consequences of inadequate access to sanitation included shame and fear related to urination and defecation in open areas, holding back the urge to urinate or defecate, walking significant distances during working hours to use a latrine, inability to maintain adequate menstrual hygiene at work, loss of pay as a result of missing work during menstruation and resentment towards employers who did not provide access to latrines. The findings reveal significant shortcomings in access to sanitation at the workplace for poor urban women. Extending legislation and improving the implementation of current regulation would improve access to sanitation at the workplace, as would increasing the coverage of public toilets.

Understanding Open Defecation in the Age of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Agency, Accountability, and Anger in Rural Bihar

“…Our participants alluded to upstream determinants of latrine ownership in several ways. They argued that non-adoption of latrines was not due to preferences but competing financial demands [14,15]; gender inequities that prioritized the wishes of the male head of household [55][56][57]; and the uncertainty of a post-construction reimbursement. Our work does not contradict other research that has found a preference for OD in rural India [16,18,26].…”

Water, Sanitation, and Women’s Empowerment: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis

“…(n = 38) Aguilar 2005; 49 Aihara 2016; 178 Andajani-Sutahjo 2015; 179 Arku 2010b; 180 Assaad 1994; 64 Baker 2017; 181 Bisung 2018; 182 Chew 2019; 183 Chipeta 2009; 72 Collins 2018; 184 (n = 34) Abu 2019; 62 Bisung 2016; 156 Boosey 2014; 197 Bora 2016; 198 Caruso 2017b; 170 Connolly 2013*; 199 Datta 2020; 200 Hall 2018; 201 Hirve 2015; 158 Jewitt 2014; 202 Joshi (n = 42) Abrahams 2006; 219 Alam 2017*; 220 Anyarayor 2019; 221 Bapat 2003; 154 Belur 2017*; 157 Bhatt 2019; 116 Camenga 2019; 222 Carolini 2012; 223 Caruso O'Reilly 2010; 48 Pardeshi 2009; 125 Rajaraman 2013; 236 Reddy 2019; 213 Rheinländer 2018*; 174 Routray 2015*; 168 Routray 2017a; 126 Sahoo 2015; 175 Schmitt 2017*; 214 Scorgie 2015*; 237 Senior 2014; 238 Shiras 2018; 161 Silva 2020; 215 Sommer 2015a; 239 Tegegne 2014*; 277 Thompson 2017; 217 Thuita 2017;…”

“…(n = 34) Adrianessens 2019; 249 Azeez 2019; 114 Caruso 2017a; 224 Corburn 2015; 225 Corburn 2016; 226 ; Czerniewska 2019; 117 Hirai 2016; 120 Joshi 2018; 159 Khanna 2016; 121 Kulkarni 2017; 160 Kwiringira 2014; 172 Lee 2017; 122 Mohankumar 2017; 124 Oluyemo 2012; 56 O'Reilly 2010; 48 O'Reilly 2014; 140 Pardeshi 2009; 125 Prasad 2015; 282 Prasad 2018; 283 Rajaraman 2013*; 236 Reddy 2011; 212 Reddy 2019; 213 Routray 2017b; 110 Halvorson 2004; 104 Harris 2017; 82 Ilahi 2000; 281 Irianti 2019; 288 James 2002; 53 Joshi 2012; 203 Karim 2012; 246 Kher 2015; 230 Krumdieck 2016; 188 Lebel 2015; 83 Leder 2017; 45 MacRae 2019*; 164 Makoni 2004; 106 Mandara 2013; 84 Mason 2012; 86 Mbatha 2011; 206 McMahon 2011*; 207 Mehretu 1992; 263 Mehta 2015; 87 Mushavi 2020; 151 Narain 2014; 265 Nerkar 2013; 152 Oluyemo 2012; 56 Padmaja 2020; 89 Pommells 2018;…”

“…Women's and girls' choices about and control over their bodies have been constrained due to water and sanitation conditions. Specifically, women limited bathing, and washing hands, clothes, menstrual materials, and bathrooms; 62,72,84,86,109,130,151,183,184,186,188,215,218,267 restricted food and water to avoid defecation and urination; 121,154,160,165,170,178,198,210 suppressed defecation and urination urges; 2,48,167,170,174,176,177,200,203,215,221,222,224,227,233,234,236,256 delayed changing menstrual materials; 210,226,227,233,236 and took anti-diarrheal medicines 160 when lacking sufficient, safe or clean water and sanitation. Water improvements in E...…”

“…159 Women exercised various coping strategies to adapt to poor privacy conditions. They sought alternative locations by relieving themselves in containers in the home, 172,177 open defecating near the home 177 or in sites protected by vegetation, 129,156 or by walking to farther defecation locations; 170 suppressed needs by restricting eating and drinking and delaying urination, defecation, 48,109,121,163,167,170,174,177,234,236 and changing menstrual materials; 226 created privacy for themselves by constructing or modifying structures for privacy 154 or wearing skirts or dresses to create coverage; 215 and responded to breaches in privacy when men passed by standing up (and soiling themselves) while open defecating. 121,158,160,170,212 Insufficient sanitation privacy posed concerns for women and girls when away from home for work or school.…”