4. Gender differences regarding sanitation and livelihoods

It is important that a people-centred approach explicitly recognises gender implications of policies, strategies, programmes and interventions in the field.

Women play different roles and occupy different positions from men, and their needs and motivations regarding sanitation issues are often very different. Capabilities, activities, assets, entitlements and the distribution of burdens and benefits may also be of a different nature.

Women’s knowledge and capabilities concerning human excreta management comes mainly from their conventional roles of cleaning, maintaining hygiene, constructing sanitary structures, digging pits, and preparing and using compost. Although there are women masons, the usual pattern is that men gain an income from sanitation-related work, while women perform unpaid work on latrines and hygiene in the home.

Outside the home, there are fewer acceptable public latrines for women. Lack of appropriate sanitation facilities in schools keep girls out of education, with serious adverse consequences on their future opportunities for paid employment. The absence of proper sanitation facilities in school or in the home has serious health consequences for girls and for women, who may not be able to relieve themselves during the day.

Men have a greater capacity to access institutions and the right to participate in decision-making processes and to negotiate with financers. However, with the proper procedures, women can participate effectively in meetings on sanitation. They have the knowledge and experience to participate in planning, design, setting tariffs, and even in operation and maintenance. However, access to decision-making outside the domestic sphere is a man’s prerogative, especially where women are confined to the home environment.

There are some positive developments, and changing roles contribute to the redistribution of assets and to helping poor women and men to become citizens.