Role of women led sanitation in community development

Abstract

Mahatma Gandhiji's visualisation of Clean India is taking a shape gradually and especially since the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014, the overwhelming participation from citizens across India in various aspects of 'Swachhata' has been observed. So the journey of Swachh Bharat has emerged as a critical means to engage citizens more intensely in improvement of health and hygiene conditions. Gender is an important notion in sanitation and hygiene because women often have the primary responsibility for facilities and practices in the household. As a result, they often experience a significant extra burden. Disproportionate burden is faced by women especially shortage of or the non-availability of sanitation facilities that can be also called as "Gender-based sanitation insecurity." Women face threat to their life and feel unsafe while seeking toilet facility or while going out for open defecation. This leads to consumption of less food and water by the women to minimise the need to exit the home to use toilets. As per census 2011, more than fifty percent of the India's population defecated in the open and recent data showed that about 60 percent of rural households and 89 per cent of urban households have access to toilets (Economic Survey 2016-2017). In this research paper an attempt has been made by the researcher to review the Sanitation Status in Selected Cities, Sanitation and the Gender Challenge and the status of swachhataabhiyan and the relationship between women contribution in sustainable community development through economic and social development as well as environment protection.