Underprivileged urban women lack gender-friendly water resources, sanitation: WaterAid 

For the underprivileged urban women in Bangladesh, access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, shortly WASH, seems to be very difficult because of discriminatory gender relations, norms, and practices, said the WaterAid Bangladesh.

A recent gender assessment by WaterAid Bangladesh reveals that 89% of the marginalized urban women have no access to gender-friendly toilet facilities, while 93% of them lack menstrual hygiene management facilities.

Most of the women and girls, though bearing the primary burden of water collection and household hygiene responsibilities, are often subjected to gender-based violence either in the form of physical assault or verbal abuse. Very few of them can control the water resources or take part in the decision-making process, according to the findings.

Supported by the Embassy of Sweden, the assessment was completed upon a survey of 550 households across four city corporations and three municipalities.

On Thursday in Dhaka, WaterAid Bangladesh published the gender assessment report in a press conference.

Presenting a synopsis of the report, the organization's manager, Md Mahadi Hasan, informed that around 63% of the respondents reported using shared toilets which lacked privacy.

According to the report, the perception of access to WASH is typically biased in favor of men, as 87% of the respondents think household chores like water collection are only women's duty. Even women cannot make decisions on purchasing hygiene products including menstrual pads, the report says.

WaterAid Bangladesh country director Hasin Jahan briefed about health impacts on women because of their less accessibility to WASH.

"Exhausted by multiple cycles of water collection, poor urban women often refrain from drinking adequate water to save water for other family members. And they are prone to urinary tract infections and other diseases due to poor menstrual hygiene management," Hasin said.

She urged that the stakeholders, including the local government agencies, prioritize a gender-transformative approach with necessary budget while developing WASH facilities for the urban poor communities.

Swedish Embassy's climate and environment-related national programme officer Mostafizur Rahman said the assessment report would help root a gender-transformative approach in Bangladesh's WASH-centric policy formulation.