WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE: A PASSAGE TO ENSURE GENDER PARITY CUTTING ACROSS AMBIGUITY

The language of human rights has emerged as an authoritative and a powerful weapon for women in every society. The cultural hindrance imposed on   the universality of human rights has been evident since time immemorial. As human being’s health is a basic concern that one possesses on a regular basis. It is a pre – requisite for every individual to uphold basic hygiene protocols and enjoy free access to basic sanitation regimes devoid of any gender, socio – economic or ethnic parameters.  The 1946 constitution of   The World Health Organization defines health as a “state of complete physical, mental   and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity “. A   woman ‘s health is influenced by several factors such as the family, society, religious texts along with the several other stigmas. Researches show that women’s health is more vulnerable to that of men. The scenario is bleak when it comes to Women’s access to education, healthcare, health related information and services.   It demands a more holistic, coherent and systematic approach.

One of the most draconian aspect here is women travelling long distances in the quest of water for satiating the thirst of their family members along with the urgency to conduct their daily household chores. This is a marker of the staunch gender injustice prevalent in the society. The women are burdened with heavy utensils, jars and drums which exposes them to the cruel heat of the scorching sun and the long walks on unsafe roads. The World Health Organization further establishes that the time devoted to the collection of water shall not exceed more than 30 minutes. This can be treated as a hoax because in countries like Africa it has been observed that the time consumed exceeds the parameter of time designed by the WHO, collecting water to and from the source.  The time utilized to traverse has been viewed as a waste of time that results in to severe blockage when we are talking about the growth and personal development of women. Under such notion, the growth for women is happening in a vacuum.

The contamination of water of the Ganges further contributes to the vicious cycle of improper human health conditions. There has been research   which indicates that most of the water bodies are exposed to arsenic – contamination through the arsenic containing sediment loads originating from the Himalayan Mountains and the Tibet Plateaus.  There is a pre – conceived notion that arsenic which is present in aquifer sediment with iron oxide is released by bacteriological – operated, inferable suspension in an organic rich environment. However, the exact nature of implementation is not learnt. The tragedy is encountered by women in most cases because the accelerated contamination of groundwater due to the heavy disposition of arsenic affects the very cycle of reproduction and development.  The reality is blood – curdling as it has been pharmaceutically manifested that the inanimate and denatured species of arsenic in a prodigiously exposed woman paves way for the invasion of the placenta and results in to a havoc devastation of the reproductive and developmental processes.

Women are exposed to severe atrocities in states like West Bengal, Bihar, states of Uttar Pradesh and Bangladesh. The vulnerabilities range from spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, pre-births, low –birth weight and neonatal deaths. The groundwater can severely be tampered in developing countries such as India for drinking and irrigation purposes without even seeking approbation from the higher authorities and policy makers.  The problems do not come to an end here, it further exerts a psychological pressure on the sufferer itself such as social ostracism, social repulsion and several other traumas.   One of the most enthralling ingredients that the very society is constructed by are its rudimentary cultural and historical prototypes. In recent times gender has matured in to a more decisive apparatus in conjunction with the local fanaticisms and axioms in framing out and mapping the hedges of water and sanitation. Culture forms the fundamental facet for an individual’s conviction of water management.  It is a matter of sheer abhorrence when women and adolescent girls do not have the means of approach to proper toilet systems and are compelled to avail oneself to open drains especially during the tenure of their menstrual cycle Hence the gentility of the feminine gender encounters serious jeopardy. Speaking of the pandemic that unleashed a considerate volume of monstrosities on human – beings, there arises an exigency to contemplate on the issues of Water and Sanitation.

The year 2020 witnessed some of the most catastrophic upheavals that paved way for some detrimental alterations in the society. Nonetheless it did not prevent us from celebrating The World Toilet Day.  At this juncture where most of us have labeled the entire situation as the “new normal”, there subsists a considerate number of inhabitants exposed to severe menace of their livelihood. One of the most competent measures undertaken was the incessant advertisement of washing hands with soaps at regular intervals along with rearing a decorum of proper personal hygiene. This can liquefy as a conventional custom for privileged households but is conceived as a matter of utter privilege for households suffering from a dearth of proper water and sanitation facilities and dwindling between whether to consume the water serviceable or to wash hands with it. The virus is still a companion of ours and has infiltrated not only annihilating our well – being but also trespassing the economic spheres of one’s life, spearheading further barbarity. This condition is even more dreadful in places like prison, detention camps, schools and other institutions.

The de facto underlying here is that the merest obligation of human rights must be at one’s beck and call irrespective of any situation and circumstances. The elementary component of human rights to safe and clean obtainable water along with licit sanitation conditions must be made acquirable for every individual cutting across the shackles of every stigma and orthodoxy prevalent in the society. The model of Sustainable Development, talks about certain global goals especially Goal 3 and Goal 6 which focus on promoting the wellbeing of every individual and ensuring proper provisions for the availability and sustainability of water and hygienic conditions must be advertised.  The need of the hour is to revisit the policies once implemented and further improvise the legal contexts addressing the thirst to guarantee and safeguard the human rights to safe water and sanitation combating any liabilities.

Alokananda Nag

Intern, Asia in Global Affairs

References

1. Water Sanitation and Culture / SSWM Find Tools https://sswm.info/arctic-wash/module-1-introduction/further-resources-sustainability-relation-water-sanitation/water%2C-sanitation-and-culture
2. Socio- Cultural barriershttps://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/towards-total-sanitation-socio-cultural-barriers-and-triggers-to-total-sanitation-in and triggers to total sanitation in West Africa
3. Ground Water Contamination and Pollution in India http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/iwmi-tata/files/pdf/ground-pollute4_FULL_.pdf
4. Ground Water Arsenic Contamination in the Ganges River Basin https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5858255/
5. Sanitation and Hygiene of Darjeeling city, A Crisis for Women and Adolescent girls https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5858255/
6. COVID- 19 Pandemic and the human rights to Water and Sanitation https://www.unwater.org/covid-19-pandemic-and-the-human-rights-to-water-and-sanitation/
7. Good Health and Well Being – SDG Academy https://sdgacademy.org/goal/good-health-and-well-being/