Women in Sanitation
The third edition of the ‘Women in Sanitation’ campaign is here! Going along with this year’s International Women’s Day theme – ‘Break the Bias’, this year’s campaign will revolve around the stories of women professionals in the sanitation sector. The value that women sanitation workers and professional bring to the sector needs to be celebrated. The Women in Sanitation campaign aims to do just that. And in the process also generate much-needed conversations in the kind of challenges and biases women face, in general and more specifically in the urban sanitation space.
Films on Women in Sanitation
We have women professionals, playing critical roles at almost every stage in the sanitation cycle – at the frontlines, as entrepreneurs, as technical experts, as administers and in many other roles, it is time we acknowledge, recognise and celebrate them.
In this month's #WomenInSanitation series, catch a #shero from our own #Chennai city, Anjali, Leader of the Velachery TNHB Area Level Federation who has spearheaded the maintenance of a clean and accessible toilet, and enabled behaviour change in hundreds of users.
Krishna Maya Karki is the Chairperson of Batawaraniya Sundar Nepal Pvt. Ltd., a #wastemanagement company she founded which currently employs 400 workers, ~200 of them women. Not only does she break gender stereotypes by being a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated sector, but she encourages her women employees to stay on at this job, despite their families and society frowning upon them working outside the household.
Social anthropologist Catarina Mavila Magaia, for instance, brings to the fore culturally driven #menstrualhealth concerns in the country of Mozambique. She discusses the normalisation of #periodpain by families, forcing young menstruators to endure it and carry on with their daily activities. She stresses the importance of bringing forth such information to the public eye so menstruators become aware of the motives that drive #menstrualpractices in the country.
For Ayesha Sheikh, what started as a curious visit to the @MynaMahilaFoundation transformed into a passion to make change. Ayesha is currently a Lead Trainer at the Foundation, working primarily towards maximising its 'Sponsor A Girl' programme. Ayesha points out the challenges young menstruators face (lack of period knowledge, poor access to sanitary products, period stigma) and the slow but sure change her work is bringing to #menstrualhealthmanagement.
Yati Desai is the Director of Special Projects at the Desai Foundation Trust. She works out of Valsad and Navsari in Gujarat and leads one of the Trust's flagship menstrual equity programmes, 'Asani.' Yati talks about the myths and stigma surrounding menstruation in India and the work she and her colleagues do to dismantle these through awareness sessions on menstrual health and hygiene practices.
When I conduct research interviews, women hesitate to open up in the presence of their husbands. They find it difficult to discuss their daily experiences," says Marcia Saica, a sanitation professional from Mozambique. Marcia's work ranges from making such research discoveries by surveying sanitation workers and women to enabling behavioural change in the community. She points out that men are most often missing in the sanitation landscape of her country and talks about women-led efforts that promise change at the grassroots level.
Refusing to be influenced by common notions regarding what is considered 'appropriate' work for women, Girija is confident about her choice of career. Watch her talk about the long-lasting change of equitable access to toilets for the women in her community.
Jamiatu Sesay presents the unique sanitation context of her country and questions the unfair burdens that fall on women. She points out the stigma that surrounds menstrual health management in her community and discusses the sensitisation work she does to bring change.
The life of Indumathi has been one of continuous resilience – even before she began her work in the sanitation sector 18 years ago. As a sanitation entrepreneur now, she urges other sanitation professionals to aspire for career growth within the sanitation space.
Eva Muhia, Director of Varet Products and Deputy President of the PASA speaks about the imbalance she noticed in women's roles within the “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene†(WASH) space and shares the stories of women who changed this narrative.
Sabita Adhikari, a WASH professional, an environmental engineer with a specialisation in sanitation, and a PhD Fellow, talks about her motivation for working in sanitation, the challenges she faces as a woman in STEM and the importance of empirical research for better sanitation policy and practice.
C Vasanthi has been working with the GoTN for 25+ years and currently leads the waste management and sanitation aspects of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the state. Listen to her talk about the challenges young women in the industry face, and the need for more women officers in this sector.
Tim Ndezi is the Founding Director of the Centre for Community Initiatives (CCI) in Tanzania and a strong ally for women's empowerment in the sanitation sector. Tim speaks about what it would take to make everyone realise the contributions women make to the sector.
Turning any business into a success comes with its own challenges. And if you are a woman working in the sanitation sector, the challenges can be steep. Hasiru Dala brings to you Gowramma’s story of courage and perseverance.
We’ve all seen solid waste management workers going door-to-door collecting waste. Arivazhagi started off as one, faced many challenges, broke biases and is now managing a micro-composting centre.
Here is a story from Biome Environmental Trust about how a group of women from Karnataka, led by women, desilted storm water drains and in the process, helped increase groundwater levels.
Do women administrators in urban local governance face unique biases? Listen to Dr.Yazhini share her unique experience serving as the Chief Health Officer during the pandemic and what women’s day means to her.
Menstrual Health Management is associated with many biases and stigma in society. In a community where women face many restrictions, Neetu broke several biases to lead an all-women enterprise that produces safe absorbents. Here’s a story by Environics India
"I wake up early in the morning. So naturally I end up taking care of cleaning the toilets," says Soukeyna Diouf Mbaye, President of the Association of Resourceful and Supportive Women of Saint-Louis, Senegal. In this film, Soukeyna narrates how a typical day looks like for her and how gender based biases and stereotypes make toilets a responsibility of women.
"I used to get out at 5 am and be out till 6 or 7 to find a place to defecate, because I won’t get a private space as men would be walking nearby," says Nishaben. Here is her story on how the organisation Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) helped Nishabhen and other women in her community break the biases around individual household toilets.
TNUSSP has been running the 'Women in Sanitation' campaign for the past two years. Here is a video of the best moments and the most powerful voices from the previous two editions of the campaign.
Aravalli is one among the very few women who work as de-sludging operators. Despite facing a plethora of challenges because of the double bias of working as a de-sludging operator and being a women at that, Aravalli has risen above all of this to be role-mode entrepreneur in the sector.
Challenging stereotypes. Fighting biases. Broadening perceptions - This is what Kamala does every single day, apart from maintaining a community toilet. This is her story.
Saranya is one of the first woman Fecal Sludge Treatment operator in Tamil Nadu. In a male-dominated job, Saranya navigates through all the biases and enjoys her work.
The kind of biases that Prema has faced as a community toilet cleaner are too many. Yet, Prema does her profession with utmost dedication and has turned the maintenance of the community toilet into a sustainable source of income for her self-help group.
In the Media
Resources
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Gender and Social Inclusion across the Sanitation Chain in TN
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Gender and Social Inclusion Issues across Sanitation Chain in Tamil Nadu: Assessment and Strategy development
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Women Managed Community Toilets - Sustained Service, Combating COVID-19
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Supporting Doc - Women Managed Community Toilets