It is uncomfortable. Most of us want to look away when we see it or hear about it, but the reality of women defecating in public is a staggering, massive issue that affects hundreds of millions of lives. We aren't talking about a few isolated incidents in a park. This is a systemic failure of infrastructure and safety. Honestly, it’s one of those topics that gets buried because of the "ick" factor, but the consequences are literally a matter of life and death.
In many parts of the world, particularly in regions like South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of private toilets isn't just a minor inconvenience. It’s a daily nightmare. For a woman, the act of going to the bathroom shouldn't be a strategic operation involving scouts, darkness, and the fear of physical assault. But it is.
The Brutal Reality of the Sanitation Gap
Let’s look at the numbers. They’re bleak. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP), roughly 419 million people still practice open defecation. While that number has dropped significantly over the last decade, the burden remains disproportionately heavy on women.
Why? Because biology.
Men can often find a tree or a wall with relatively low social cost. For women, the stakes are entirely different. There is a massive amount of shame involved. Many women will hold their bladders and bowels for 12 to 15 hours a day, waiting for the sun to go down so they can have a shred of privacy in the fields or bushes. Imagine the physical toll that takes on a body. We’re talking chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), kidney issues, and severe constipation. It's a health disaster hiding in plain sight.
The Safety Risk is Very Real
When we talk about women defecating in public, we have to talk about violence. This isn't just about hygiene. Researchers from institutions like Yale and various NGOs have documented a direct correlation between the lack of private sanitation and non-partner sexual violence.
In 2014, a tragic case in Katra Sahadatganj, India, brought this to the world’s stage. Two teenage girls went out into the fields at night because they had no indoor toilet. They were attacked and murdered. While the specifics of that case were complex and heavily debated in the media, it highlighted a universal truth for millions: the "toilet" is a place of extreme vulnerability.
When you have to leave your home in the dead of night to find a spot to go, you are a target. Period.
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Why "Just Build Toilets" Doesn't Always Work
You’d think the solution is simple. Just build more latrines, right? Well, sort of. But it's way more complicated than just dropping a concrete slab over a pit.
There's this thing called "slippage." It’s a term used by sanitation experts to describe what happens when a community is given toilets but goes back to open defecation anyway. Sometimes the toilets are built poorly. Sometimes they aren't culturally appropriate. In some cultures, there is a belief that having a pit of waste near the home is "unclean," making the open field feel like the "healthier" option.
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of Sulabh International, spent decades trying to change this mindset. He realized that you can't just change the plumbing; you have to change the culture. He introduced the "twin-pit" pour-flush compost toilet, which was a game-changer because it was easy to maintain and didn't require a sewer system. But even with brilliant tech, the social stigma remains a massive hurdle.
The Menstruation Factor
Managing a period while practicing open defecation is a special kind of hell. How do you change a cloth or a pad in a field? Where do you wash? Where do you dispose of it?
Often, women will use dirty rags because they have no way to wash and dry menstrual cloths privately. This leads to reproductive tract infections. It's a domino effect of bad health outcomes. If a school doesn't have a private toilet, girls just stop showing up when they have their periods. They fall behind. They drop out. The lack of a toilet literally limits a woman's economic and educational potential.
Economic Impacts You Might Not Expect
Poor sanitation costs the world billions. According to the World Bank, inadequate sanitation causes economic losses equivalent to 6.4% of GDP in India, 3.9% in Indonesia, and similar figures across various African nations. This comes from healthcare costs, lost productivity, and the time spent looking for a place to go.
Think about the "time poverty" here. If a woman spends 30 minutes to an hour every day walking to a secluded spot for privacy, that’s time she isn't working, studying, or resting. Multiply that by millions of women. The scale of lost human potential is staggering.
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Is Progress Actually Happening?
Yes, but it's slow. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) aims for "sanitation for all" by 2030. Programs like the Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission) have made massive strides in building millions of toilets.
However, "Access" is not the same as "Usage."
A study published in The Lancet highlighted that even in areas where toilets were built, people—especially the elderly and women accustomed to old ways—might still prefer the open air. Why? Sometimes the toilets are dark, smelly, and cramped. If a toilet feels like a cage, people won't use it.
We need "Gender-Responsive Sanitation." This means:
- Toilets with actual locks.
- Adequate lighting.
- Water for washing.
- Disposal bins for menstrual products.
The Urban Struggle
We often think of this as a rural problem, but urban slums are often worse. In a rural field, you at least have space. In a crowded slum in Lagos or Mumbai, there is no "away." Women often have to pay to use communal toilets, which are frequently filthy and controlled by "toilet mafias" or predatory attendants. If you don't have the money that day, you're back to using a plastic bag (the "flying toilet") or finding a dark corner in an alley.
Actionable Steps Toward Change
If we want to stop the cycle of women defecating in public, the approach has to be multi-pronged. We can't just throw money at the problem and hope it disappears.
Support Local Entrepreneurs Organizations like Sanergy in Kenya are turning waste into fertilizer and energy. By making sanitation a viable business, the toilets stay clean because there is a profit motive to maintain them.
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Focus on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) Sanitation projects must include MHM as a core component. A toilet without a way to manage a period is only half a toilet for a woman.
Demand Data Transparency Governments love to report "toilets built." We should be asking for "toilets used and maintained." Demand that NGOs and governments provide data on the functionality of the infrastructure a year after it's built.
Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) This is a controversial but often effective method where communities are encouraged to take collective action to stop open defecation through social pressure and education. It works best when the women of the village are the ones leading the charge, as they have the most to gain.
Redesigning the "Public" Space Urban planning needs to include women in the conversation. When men design public spaces, they often forget about the specific safety and privacy needs of women. Public toilets should be located in well-lit, high-traffic areas where "natural surveillance" keeps people safe, rather than tucked away in dangerous corners.
The reality is that sanitation is a human right. When women are forced to defecate in public, their dignity, health, and safety are being violated. It’s not just about pipes and pits; it’s about power and the fundamental right to exist safely in one’s own body.
Next Steps for Impact:
- Verify Your Donations: If you give to water and sanitation charities, look at their "sustainability" metrics. Check if they have a plan for maintenance five years down the line.
- Advocate for Integrated Policy: Use your platform to highlight that sanitation is a "gendered" issue. It’s not just "wash," it’s safety.
- Educate on MHM: Supporting groups that provide menstrual cups or reusable pads often goes hand-in-hand with improving toilet usage rates, as it gives women a reason to value the privacy of a latrine.