Women’s Empowerment Through Sanitation In Rural India

Access to good and safe toilets for women, particularly in rural regions, is one of India’s most pressing sanitation concerns. We don’t want to think of a woman who has ‘controlled’ herself until it’s dark, or who rises before dawn to join a group of other women and undertake a long, laborious walk to a deserted location to ‘answer nature’s call.’

It is critical to eliminate open defecation (OD) to achieve gender equality; in this context, the state-wide sanitation initiative Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), which began in 2014, has significant significance. The SBM programme aims to include individuals in creating their sanitation facilities and waste management systems, as well as enhancing the cleanliness of their surroundings. SBM is divided into two sections: urban and rural (known as SBM-Gramin or SBM-G). As the causes for and obstacles faced by OD differ, so do the components, implementation mechanism, funding, and private party participation in the SBM-Urban and SBM-Rural.

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan rural aims to have a largely beneficial influence on gender equality and promote social inclusion through improving sanitation, particularly in marginalised communities. According to the NITI Ayog 2020 report, SBM has achieved its goal of making India ODF by installing over 109 million home and communal toilets in 603,175 villages in 706 districts across the country.

What are rural women’s experiences of SBM-G?

What it means for millions of women living in rural areas of the country as village after village, district after district appears to become ODF. Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G) has helped give access to household toilets for 6,993 women across five Indian states, according to the report ‘Access to toilets, and the safety, convenience, and self-respect of women in rural India’, published in 2020. (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh). Women have gained more convenience, security, and self-respect as a result of this, allowing them to live a more dignified life.

However, access alone is not enough: WASH facilities must be built to fulfil the needs of all users in terms of privacy and dignity. The first phase of SBM (2014–19) was focused on building toilets, however, toilets alone do not meet the requirements of women. Many women with toilets in rural Odisha saw negligible benefit over OD because they lacked direct access to water for post-defecation, cleaning, and flushing; and there were no roofs or doors for shelter or privacy.