Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Nov - Dec Vol. 9 No.6 | Page 30

Sanitation Women experiencing regular discrimination from men, express fear of assault or rape when having to leave the house to use the toilet. Reports of attacks or harassment near or in toilet facilities, as well as near or in areas where women defecate openly, are not uncommon. The consequences of such violence against women are both physical and psychological for the victim, and extend to families and communities that persist to live with gender based inequalities and lost economical potential of victims. You might remember the two young girls from Uttar Pradesh India raped and murdered this year while looking for a toilet. While it is important to recognize that lack of access to toilets was not the cause of this violence, not having a safe place to go to the toilet facilitated the violent act. It is our duty to protect vulnerable women from experiences of gender-based violence. Universal access to safe toilets has a clear role to play in defending women’s Can Toilets Reduce Violence Against Women? Toilets can play a role in protecting women. The most obvious way is through access. With access to a toilet, women no longer have to defecate in the open where they feel ashamed, and vulnerable to predators when having to expose themselves publicly. In addition to access, there are numerous considerations for Director of (toilet) Operations 28 Introducing the Harley Davidson Toilet Seat Ginga train japanese style toilet Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • November - December 2014 limiting the risk of violence associated with toilets. For exampl