Gender-Based Violence and WASH

In last week's post, I briefly touched on the topic of gender-based violence (GBV) in relation to water collection. This week, I wanted to do a short post exploring the links between GBV and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), using informal settlements in Kenya as a case study. I will be looking specifically at the infrastructural causes of GBV (e.g. poor WASH facilities) and the social causes (e.g. societal taboos).

Figure 1: Toilet in Mathare slum, Nairobi, Kenya

The lack in provision of adequate WASH facilities increases women's vulnerability to GBV. Women who lack these basic infrastructures are forced to walk to shared toilet facilities or to even openly defecate. Studies in informal settlements within Nairobi, Kenya found that women who had to walk even 100m to use a public toilet during the night would be at risk of being abused or harassed (UN Water, 2020; Winter and Barchi, 2015). Due to poor security and a lack of sufficient lighting, it becomes easier for men to target women on their way to sanitation facilities (Amnesty International, 2010). Indeed, over 36% of women in Nairobi's Kibera slum are raped when trying to access public WASH facilities (Corburn and Hildebrand, 2015). Many women are also forced to use 'flying toilets' or to defecate in the open because of the fear of GBV; three-quarters of women in Nairobi's Mathare slum use open defecation or 'flying toilets' near their homes to avoid travelling to public toilets at night (Winter et al, 2018). Women even try to avoid GBV by drinking less fluids during the day to avoid the journey to a public toilet; in turn, this can lead to dehydration, urinary tract infections and other issues (Schriener, 2019). Unfortunately, GBV is often overlooked as men continue to get away with their actions, whilst women are left in fear and are restricted in their movement and opportunities (Kayser et al, 2019).

Socio-cultural taboos surrounding women also increase the risk of GBV; whilst it is normalised for men to relieve themselves in public spaces, a sense of shame is brought upon women urinating, defecating and menstruating (Sommer et al, 2015). These taboos and societal norms ultimately need to be broken down so that men can understand the need for women to have adequate WASH facilities, as well as the detrimental impacts of GBV on women.

For the future, there should perhaps be an equal focus on providing adequate WASH facilities for women and on breaking down societal norms and taboos; indeed, 'toilet security cannot occur unless gender inequalities are prioritised'.

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