Emerging evidence shows that gender differences, gender-dynamics, and power-relationships in the sanitation ecosystem impact people’s access to sanitation, their health, overall development and empowerment.
Gender is about more than biology. It’s about how our culture decides who does which chores, who uses which facilities, and how safe people feel when doing everyday tasks like using a toilet or collecting water. This directly affects access to sanitation because:
- In many communities, women handle household chores like cleaning and fetching water. This can limit their time for education or work.
- People can face multiple disadvantages based on gender, caste, economic status, or sexual orientation.
- Transgender and non-binary people may have trouble finding a toilet that feels safe or appropriate for them.
The worst affected among them are the most vulnerable – girls, women, transgenders, children, elderly, person with disability, and sanitation workers.
To learn more, take the Self-Administered Self-Paced Online Training Module on Gender & WASH.