Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa Water & Sanitation & Hygiene Nov-Dec 2017 | Page 13

Water Supply • you happen to be an intersexed child, born with ambiguous genitals and/or reproductive organs, whose parents have decided (despite social pressure and pressure from the medical community) not to subject their child to surgery until the child can participate in that decision.” Restricted access to toilets for some aside, they are also spaces that can keep historically excluded groups “in their place”, often rationalized by elaborate notions of purity and pollution. These notions are best known in South Asia, but are widely prevalent in many other parts of the world as well. For instance, J.J. Lawrence and colleagues document the taboo against using same toilets as in-laws, members of the opposite sex, or different generations within a family in some Zambian communities. Indeed, one of the most egregious ways in which toilets are used to assert an oppressive status quo is when only certain Dalit castes are assigned the task of cleaning them, thereby rendering both the cleaners and the toilets “impure”. With the growing power of the erstwhile subaltern peoples, toilets are emerging as arenas for political assertion. Take the case of the United States, where the movement against segregated toilets is symbolic of the assertion of sexual minorities. This assertion is premised upon the fact that gender identity, not sex at birth, should determine individual choice. The backlash is equally vehement and has played out in the legal and social realms, with laws passed for and against segregated toilets. A more muted movement for the rights of domestic workers in many parts of the world advocates for their right to use toilets within the homes where they work – something that has historically been anathema. Take also the Dalit assertion in India that has rallied against the gruesome practice of manual scavenging, leading to its ultimate ban. In sum, toilets are undoubtedly good for sanitation, health and women’s empowerment, but they can also be potent instruments for equality and inclusion. This can happen when policy is sensitive to the role of toilets as contested spaces and responds to the clamor of historically excluded groups against their potential tyranny. About the Author Maitreyi Bordia Das is the World Bank’s Global Lead for Social Inclusion. Based in Washington DC, she works on issues of inequality and exclusion and on the design and implementation of social policy and programs. Among other publications, Maitreyi is also the lead author of the 2013 report, “Inclusion Matters: The Foundation for Shared Prosperity” and most recently of “Scaling the Heights: Social Inclusion and Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh”. She started her career as a lecturer in St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, has been a MacArthur Fellow at the Harvard Center of Population and Development Studies and worked as advisor to the United Nations Development Program. She has a PhD in Sociology (Demography) from the University of Maryland. Before joining the World Bank, Maitreyi was in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) About IFC About WSP IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. For more information, visit: www.ifc.org and www.ifc.org/ssawa. The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) is a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank to support poor people in obtaining affordable, safe, and sustainable access to water and sanitation services. WSP provides technical assistance, facilitates knowledge exchange, and promotes evi dence-based advancements in sector dialogue. For more information, visit: www.wsp.org. IFC - CBA Building, 4th Floor | Upper Hill, Mara/Ragati Road Nairobi, Kenya, P.O. Box 30577-00100 Contact: Will Davies | [email protected] | [phone] World Bank - Water and Sanitation Program | Hill Park Towers, Upper Hill Road Nairobi, Kenya, P.O Box 30577 Contact: Yolande Coombes | [email protected] | [phone] Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2017 13