#5A Man's World

I recently explored the challenges that menstruating young girls and women (YGAW) face with access to wash, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Today, I am focusing on the violent atrocities that YGAW encounter when such facilities are lacking or inadequate.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, where the state of sanitation is deteriorating, open defecation continues to remain a common practice. Approximately 215 million people continue to engage in open defecation. This is despite the Sustainable Development Goals proposing that countries must provide adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls. Evidently, there is a long way to reaching this target.

Informal settlements and WASH 

The issue of open defecation is most acute within informal settlements, and Kenya remains a prime example of this. For decades, the government have failed to acknowledge these informal settlements and so the enforcement of planning laws and regulations here are not a given. Consequently, building owners and landlords can get away with providing inadequate toilets to tenants, if any at all. 

Gender-based violence (GBV)

As is often the case within informal settlements in Kenya, latrine facilities tend to be located long distances away from the settlements themselves. While this is thought to be for hygiene purposes, as a means of maintaining some level of environmental health in these settlements, it has undermined the safety and dignity of YGAW. Moreover, in Nairobi, most WASH facilities close before it even reaches 10pm, leaving YGAW with no place to defecate or urinate but out in the open. In fear of being seen by passers-by, YGAW travel far-away distances in the hope that they will come across a secluded area. 

As found in studies investigating slums in Methare, Nairobi, most YGAW are forced to walk more than 300 metres to use the nearest available latrine. Walking these distances unaccompanied, YGAW are at greater risk of sexual harassment and abuse. As GBV in informal settlements is widely unpunished, coincided with insecurity and poorly lit infrastructures, YGAW’s well-being is threatened. In slums in Kibera, Nairobi, 30% of women reported having been forced to perform sexual acts when making their way to shared latrine facilities. 

Where possible, YGAW attend latrines with female peers or male family members. Alternative extreme measures include limiting intake of fluids thus minimising the need to use a toilet; forcefully retaining their urine and faeces causing them to develop dehydration and haemorrhoids; and even pooing in a plastic bag and throwing it far away, known as ‘the flying toilet’. In Methare, about 66% of women engaged in ‘the flying toilet’. While not the most sanitary practice to exist, it is unfortunately one of the safest. 

Peepoo, an alternative to ‘flying poo’

Despite its convenience and safety that it may provide, ‘the flying toilet’ has detrimental impacts to the environment, lingering odours being one of the more immediate impacts. All is not bad however, as the recent emergence of the Peepoo social enterprise provides an effective and complementary solution to help maintain hygiene and sanitation in Kenyan communities. The Peepoo alternative offers a private, single use, biodegradable toilet which, when buried, turns human waste into valuable fertiliser. The bag can also be returned to the manufacturer for a small refund – one third of its original price – as part of a buy-back incentive to encourage people to adopt a more sanitary defecation practice. In villages such as Silanga in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, this can produce almost 4,000 tonnes of pathogen-free fertiliser which can enrich soils and promote food security. 

Source: Example of the Peepoo being used in a bucket 

The Peepoo, however, is not without its disadvantages. Many users complained about the practicality of the Peepoo, arguing the bag was too small and therefore difficult to urinate and defecate into. Not merely this, but, is this just another way for businesses to capitalise and profit from a slum dweller’s last resort, or is it actually trying to tackle the fundamental issues of open defecation?

Moving forward

This blog has illuminated just how serious the consequences can be for YGAW when accessibility to water and sanitation is inadequate. To guarantee YGAW their human right to safety and dignity, it is important that sanitation initiatives are introduced; they must be culturally and socioeconomically suitable. The Peepoo was especially good at this, taking the concept of the ‘flying toilet’ and altering it to allow for urban slum dwellers to continue engaging in defecation practices most familiar to them but in ways which consider the health and safety of women.