Bombay high court in 2015 observed that a woman has the right to have a safe and clean toilet at all convenient places which in a way impacts their right to live with dignity.?
In the Milun Saryajani v. Pune Municipal Corporation and Others, the high court stated that the women need these facilities at public places like railway stations, bus stands, banks, public offices like state government offices/municipal offices.?
Public health is of paramount importance and it is the duty of the state and the corporations to ensure that public latrines, urinals, and similar conveniences are constructed, maintained, and kept in a hygienic condition.
According to a study conducted by Praja Foundation in 2017, the number of toilets in Mumbai for women is almost one-third of the number of toilets for men. Per the study, there were 10,778 toilets for men and only 3,903 for women.?
Another study by Action Aid India showed that 35 per cent of 229 surveyed public toilets in Delhi did not have a separate section for women. The study further stated that 53 per cent of women toilets had no running water and 45 per cent did not have a mechanism to lock the door from inside.?
The lack of toilets in rural households remains a critical concern.
According to data published by the National Statistical Office (NSO), about 28.7 per cent of Indian rural households have no access to toilets. 50.7 per cent, 48 per cent, 37.2 per cent of rural households in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu respectively had no access to toilets. In such a scenario, it¡¯s plain to understand the conditions of public toilets specifically for women.?
Despite their less number, public toilets for women mostly are in unusable conditions. Most women tend to avoid these public washrooms due to their extremely unhygienic conditions. According to an online survey conducted by women empowerment organisation Pinkishe and a feminine hygiene company Sanfe, 90 per cent of Indian women are afraid of using public washrooms.?
The findings of this survey titled 'Say No To Dirty Toilets' stated, "that the public washrooms -- be it the workplace, shopping malls or hotels -- are not clean and suitable to use in the country¡±. In the survey, most of the travellers and shoppers admitted that ¡°holding urine is the only alternative for using dirty toilets followed by urinating in semi-squat and wiping dirty toilets¡±.?
The aforementioned survey is one among many surveys which point out the harsh reality of our so-called public conveniences. While these washrooms are built with modern facilities, they quickly turn unusable, and the majority of women would prefer to bear the pain of holding urine for hours instead of using these.
Some findings of a survey by Action Aid conducted in Delhi, further explain the conditions of public toilets for women. According to this survey, 66 per cent of women public toilets didn¡¯t have flushing facilities, while 52 per cent didn¡¯t have any hand washing facilities. About 61 per cent of these facilities lacked the availability of any soap.?
Further, the survey tried to highlight the security concerns in these public toilets for women. According to the findings, 30 per cent of toilets had no doors while 45 per cent of them had no locking mechanism. At the same time, 55 per cent of public toilets had no lights inside them.
According to the petitioner in the Milun Saryajani v. Pune Municipal Corporation and Others case, ¡°Nonexistence of public utilities for women, or where lavatories exist but are rendered unusable due to safety concerns, geographical non-accessibility or unhygienic conditions, women are forced to hold in their urine for extended periods of time. To avoid using the dirty toilets, many women do not drink their daily requirement of water, with an impact on their health, including an increased chance of urinary tract infections, prolapsed bladder, involuntary urine release, etc¡±.?
According to an article published on the Action Aid website, ¡°Talking about women and their sanitation needs has always been a taboo in most societies ¨C and India is not an exception. Women need to urinate more often than men, and more so during the menstrual cycles. A high percentage of women hold their urine for long hours, at times the whole day due to lack of toilet facilities. This has several severe consequences on women¡¯s kidney, bladder, a bacterial infection in the urinary tract and overall body system due to long retention of urine and less elimination of waste through urination¡±.
Given the unhygienic conditions of public toilets, many NGOs have intervened to make them accessible, and usable.
The Action Aid on 19th November 2016 (World Toilet Day) launched the ¡®Where to Pee¡¯ campaign. Through this campaign, they demanded clean, safe, and working toilets for all, especially women.?
Bhartiya Stree Shakti, while expressing a need for safe and clean public toilets for women, launched the ¡®Ab Khule Mein Bandh¡¯ campaign. About 400 women hailing from Trichy were awarded by FICCI for exemplary work on urban sanitisation. These women belonging to various self-help groups came together to manage and maintain around 200 public toilets. Activist Mumtaz Shaikh started the Right to Pee campaign to advocate for free, clean, safe public urinals for women in Mumbai.
As India is hugely stressing cleanliness and sanitation programs prominent being Swach Bharat Abhiyaan, basic facilities like public washrooms, especially for women, need critical care.