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The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 6d
- Paragraph text
- [While target 7.C itself is of critical importance, it is also indispensable for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals:] Water collection duties and lack of adequate or appropriate sanitation facilities keep girls out of school, and water-related diseases such as diarrhoea cost 443 million school days each year (Goal 2);
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- There are many useful and viable ways to bring non-discrimination and equity or distributional measures into monitoring. Greater attention is needed to disaggregate not only by reference to rural and urban areas, but also to the upper and lower wealth quintiles of the population. Disaggregation according to sex should be prioritized at the global level in view of the particular challenges, vulnerabilities and discrimination faced by women and girls. In addition to these types of disaggregation, relevant across all countries, a contextualized approach to disaggregation is required. States must identify groups that face discrimination (namely on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability or any other status) and specifically monitor progress within these groups to be able to target systematic exclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, international human rights instruments not only call for disaggregation between urban and rural areas, but also for assessments of discrimination on grounds of sex, race (including social, national and ethnic origin), disability and political and religious belief, among others. In terms of target 7.C specifically, groups that have been identified as potentially vulnerable or marginalized include women, children, inhabitants of rural and deprived urban areas as well as other poor people, nomadic and traveller communities, refugees, migrants, people belonging to ethnic or racial minorities, elderly people, indigenous groups, persons living with disabilities, people living in water-scarce regions and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Women and girls, in particular, benefit from improved access to water and sanitation as they are frequently responsible for ensuring the provision of water, often at personal risk of physical or sexual assault, and equally when forced to defecate in the open. The human rights framework helps to ensure that the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups are not overlooked in the quest for aggregate progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 6e
- Paragraph text
- [While target 7.C itself is of critical importance, it is also indispensable for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals:] For many women and girls inadequate sanitation implies a loss of dignity and represents a source of insecurity. Water collection responsibilities and the time spent caring for relatives afflicted by water-related diseases diminish women's opportunity to engage in productive activities (Goal 3);
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Financing for the Realization of the Rights to Water and Sanitation 2011, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Not all benefits can be monetized. Intangible benefits, such as time saved and dignity gained, warrant careful consideration for their impact on human well-being. The particularly positive impact for women and girls of investing in water and sanitation is crucial for realizing human rights obligations related to gender equality. Environmental benefits are also difficult to put a figure on, but may be enormous, given that improving water and sanitation services helps combat environmental degradation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- In her country missions, the Special Rapporteur has noted that specific groups are excluded from access to water and sanitation, often reflecting patterns of discrimination, marginalization and limited political will to ensure substantive equality. These groups can be identified along ethnicity and socioeconomic divides. In some countries, indigenous peoples living on reserves do not have access to water or sanitation services. Dalits often suffer discrimination in accessing water and sanitation, while Roma are most disadvantaged in many European countries. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur's attention has repeatedly been drawn to vast gender inequalities and multiple discrimination, or the compounded impact of various grounds of discrimination on the same individual or group. For instance, women and girls are overwhelmingly tasked with collecting water and are physically and sexually threatened when they fetch water. Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those who lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- While the focus in combating stigma must be on bringing about societal change and changes in attitude, technical measures are still crucial to ensure accessibility, for instance for persons with disabilities or older persons, as are public health measures to prevent and cure neglected tropical diseases. Sanitation systems should be adjusted to avoid manual sanitation work. The provision of adequate facilities is crucial for menstrual hygiene management, since it is often the lack of a safe and clean space that prevents women and girls from exercising proper hygiene.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Because menstrual hygiene management has such a strong impact on gender equality, it could be used as a proxy for information about discrimination against women and girls in sanitation and hygiene. Targets and indicators should be crafted to capture the ability of all women and adolescent girls to manage menstruation hygienically and with dignity, supported by amending the relevant household surveys explicitly asking about adequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The silence and stigma surrounding menstruation makes finding solutions for menstrual hygiene management a low priority. Menstruating women and girls often lack a private place to change or wash the rags used. Menstruation has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating women and girls are "contaminated", "dirty", "impure" or "polluted". These manifest in practices such as the seclusion of women and girls, reduced mobility, dietary restrictions, and/or women and girls being required to use different water sources or prohibited from preparing food for others during menstruation-practices that are often deeply rooted in sociocultural and patriarchal interpretations of religious prescriptions. Even where such restrictions are not followed, women and girls may continue to harbour internalized stigma and are embarrassed to discuss menstruation. The lack of privacy for cleaning and washing, the fear of staining and smelling, and the lack of hygiene in school toilets are major reasons for being absent from school during menstruation, and have a negative impact on girls' right to education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Evidence shows that women and girls, older people, people with chronic illnesses and persons with disabilities often face particular barriers in accessing water and sanitation, and that these barriers are experienced both within the household and when accessing community and public facilities. Global monitoring data have demonstrated that women and girls shoulder the burden of collecting household water, restricting their time for other activities, including education and work. Moreover, when households share sanitation facilities, women and girls may be required by social norms concerning privacy to avoid using the facilities except during hours of darkness, when their personal safety may be at increased risk. When sanitation and water facilities are not designed with them in mind, older persons and those with physical access constraints, including disabilities may face obstacles to accessing and using these facilities. Such discrimination based on sex/gender, age, disability, and health status occurs across the globe and in all strata of society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Stigmatization often results in lack of access to water and sanitation and poor hygiene standards. The lack of access to essential services is a symptom, while the root causes lie in stigmatization. Only through an understanding of these causes will it be possible to implement effective measures to improve access to services. Stigma is often closely linked to perceptions of uncleanliness, untouchability and contagion. In many instances, stigmatized people are perceived as "dirty", "filthy" and "smelly", affecting for instance homeless populations, menstruating women and girls, Roma communities, Dalits or women suffering from obstetric fistula. Individuals who find themselves stigmatized because of the perception that they are "dirty" or "contagious" may be socially ostracized and be denied access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, hence reinforcing the stereotype of uncleanliness and prolonging a vicious circle. It is not their inherent condition to live in filthy and poor conditions; it is a position imposed by society that uses stigma as a tool to create, perpetuate and justify marginalization and inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights goes on to guarantee that "everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks", thus including an explicit guarantee of protection against interference by private parties. This results in a positive obligation of States parties to protect privacy against interference and attacks by others, which has been found to be of particular relevance, for instance, in relation to persons deprived of personal liberty, older persons, persons with disabilities or transgendered persons. This provision is of enormous significance in the context of combatting stigma. It clearly demonstrates that States' obligations reach into the private sphere. They cannot dismiss stigma as a social phenomenon over which States have no influence. Instead, they have positive obligations that extend into this realm, requiring States, for instance, to take measures that enable women and girls to manage their menstrual hygiene needs in a manner that protects their privacy and dignity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76c (vii)
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] Recommendations regarding data sources and methodology: Targets and indicators should be crafted to ensure that women and adolescent girls can manage menstruation hygienically and with dignity, including by specific questions in relevant household surveys about adequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 76b (iii) f.
- Paragraph text
- [Against this background, the Special Rapporteur recommends the following:] Recommendations regarding goals, targets and indicators for water, sanitation and hygiene: Future goals, targets and indicators on water, sanitation and hygiene must: Address the need for adequate menstrual hygiene management for women and girls;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Access to water and sanitation is not only a human rights entitlement but it also has an enormous impact on human health: it is central to the reduction of child mortality, malnutrition, neglected tropical diseases, opportunistic diseases for people living with HIV/AIDS, and a number of other health conditions. It contributes to ensuring gender equality, inter alia, by reducing the time spent by girls and women in collecting and managing household water. As such, access to water and sanitation also impacts on education, both through freeing children's time to attend school and through improving health. Moreover, improving access to water and sanitation reduces the burden of inadequate menstrual hygiene management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- One particular area where individual inequalities and the lack of attention to the needs of women and girls is starkly apparent is menstrual hygiene management. Menstruation is a taboo topic. In this context, women and girls are forced into furtive practices and obliged to hide their hygiene practices and limit their movements during menstruation. Although there is a dearth of research in this area, several studies demonstrate that adolescent girls often face significant restrictions during and associated with their menses. Girls may be taken out of school or workplaces or choose not to attend because there are no facilities for hygienically managing menstruation in sanitation facilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Stigma and the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2012, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Some prejudices develop at an early age and can be inherited from parents and others and must therefore be addressed as early as possible. Schools have an obligation to educate children to act as agents of change, developing tolerant behaviour towards others, encouraging dialogue and interaction and promoting changes that will eventually permeate other spheres. Human rights education with a focus on non-discrimination should be part of every school curriculum. Education should be inclusive, accepting students with differences, so that these differences are perceived as "normal" and students develop respect for "otherness". The same holds true for comprehensive sexual education, including on menstruation, in order to provide accurate information and combat silence and stigma, targeting both girls and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Integrating non-discrimination and equality into the post-2015 development agenda for water, sanitation and hygiene 2012, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Among those who are disadvantaged in their access to water and sanitation, there are many who are discriminated against - because they have a disability, because they are girls, or a combination of these and other factors. If this additional dimension is not captured, the ones who are discriminated against will continue to be discriminated against, even among the most disadvantaged in their access to water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- What emerges from the above is a pattern of neglect of the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in society across planning, institutional responsibilities and resource allocation. Disadvantaged groups can often be identified along ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic divides (see, for example, A/HRC/18/33/Add.4, para. 79). Indigenous peoples, Dalits and Roma are among such groups facing discrimination with whom the Special Rapporteur has met during the course of her mandate. Moreover, there are vast gender inequalities - in many poor communities, the task of collecting water overwhelmingly falls to women and girls (see, for example, A/HRC/15/31/Add.3 and Corr.1, para. 22). Persons with disabilities are also disproportionately represented among those lacking access to water and sanitation (A/HRC/15/55, para. 21). Neglect can occur for a variety of reasons: groups and individuals may experience stigmatization, they may live in remote areas making serving them costly, or politicians may be indifferent to their needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Many cultures have certain prescriptions for women's and girls' behaviour during menstruation which may amount to harmful traditional and cultural practices, violating not only the right to sanitation but, more broadly, women's and girls' human rights and gender equality. In Nepal, the Supreme Court issued an order to eliminate the practice of chaupadi, which forces menstruating women and girls to sleep in isolation from the rest of the family, in a hut or shed, with risks to their health and security. The Court declared that the practice was discriminatory and violated women's rights. It ordered the Government to conduct a study on the impact of the practice, to create awareness and to take measures to eliminate the tradition.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- An assessment of barriers must address all types of obstacles: physical, economic, institutional, attitudinal and social. Physical barriers affect persons with disabilities, but they also relate to decisions on meeting times and childcare. Social barriers include prejudices and stereotypes. Gender norms and stereotypes play a significant role in determining what degree of control men and women exercise. In many instances, social norms legitimize women's exclusion from decision-making. Social norms explain, for instance, why authorities fail to take seriously reports of women being subjected to indignities and risks of sexual violence when accessing sanitation facilities outside their home. As the Special Rapporteur has noted elsewhere, taboos around menstruation, combined with inadequate access to water and sanitation, explain why a significant number of girls consistently lose a week of schooling each month (A/HRC/21/42, para. 22). Without a deliberate effort to draw out their own analysis and ideas, solutions will often fail to address women's and girls' needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- In some instances, empowered participatory governance has been successful, i.e., people have effectively mobilized to influence policy-making. For example, communities in California successfully mobilized, leading to the adoption of Assembly Bill 685, the California Human Right to Water Bill. Communities in California's Central Valley formed a coalition of NGOs, the Safe Water Alliance, and successfully engaged legislators to act on their behalf. In the Rupnagar slum in Bangladesh, a girls' club encourages neighbours to follow safe menstrual hygiene practices. The club members produce sanitary napkins and go door to door to promote hygienic behaviour (see A/HRC/15/55 and Corr.1, para. 69); they also negotiated for and obtained a legal water connection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- With regard to water management, principle No. 3 of the Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development, adopted by the International Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992, acknowledges that "[w]omen play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water.... [I]mplementation of this principle requires positive policies … to equip and empower women to participate at all levels in water resources programmes, including decision-making and implementation". While women's participation is essential, care must be taken to avoid reinforcing existing stereotypes about women and girls being solely responsible for water management, which in many instances implies water collection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The Indian Supreme Court ordered schools to provide adequate toilet facilities in schools. Relying on empirical research showing that "parents do not send their children (particularly girls) to schools" wherever sanitation facilities are not provided, the Court found that a lack of toilets violated the right to education. Failure to provide water and sanitation to those deprived of liberty has been addressed by courts and international bodies primarily as constituting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The High Court of Fiji held that prisoners' right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment was violated by lack of access to adequate sanitation facilities. The Human Rights Committee has found human rights violations, as have regional human rights bodies, in a number of cases in which prisoners have been denied access to sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- People may be deliberately excluded from the use of existing facilities, for instance through societal rules preventing Dalits from using water fountains or not allowing women and girls or other individuals to use an existing toilet in the household. Inordinate amounts of time spent by women and girls carrying water have major impacts on access to paid employment and education. Measures to address such practices could seek to alleviate that burden, for instance by making water collection over long distances unnecessary by providing direct access, while challenging the stereotypes which lead to that task being assigned to women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls are frequently subjected to unacceptable risks of violence, including sexual violence, in accessing water and sanitation facilities. Their right to personal security may be violated by failures to provide adequate protection from violence, including through appropriate design and placement of facilities with the participation of women. Many other groups and individuals such as Dalits and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex individuals also face violence in accessing water and sanitation, often linked to deeply entrenched stigmatization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Failure to provide reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities has far-reaching effects and may amount to violations of the rights to water or sanitation. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities raised concerns about water and sanitation service provision not taking into account the needs of persons with disabilities. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned about the lack of reasonable accommodation in sanitation facilities for children with disabilities in schools, in extreme instances forcing parents to stay at school with their children to allow them to meet their sanitation needs. Moreover, inadequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management have been shown to prevent girls from attending school, as well as creating serious health consequences. People with health conditions also often require particular protection. The Colombian Constitutional Court found that the disconnection of water services to a woman with chronic kidney failure violated the right to life, and ordered the reinstatement of the service.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Participation in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Responding to emergencies poses particular challenges for participation. There is often a concern that States and humanitarian actors need to be able to act quickly and that participatory processes would slow down responses. However, many decisions on disaster response are taken beforehand, and participation is essential at the planning stage. Moreover, in many instances emergency responses develop into more long-term programmes. In relation to menstrual hygiene management during an emergency, for instance, a solution might be to include a standard response for distributing sanitary kits to make sure that immediate needs are met on the basis of cultural preferences as far as they are known, or assumed. This response should be monitored subsequently to assess whether it meets women's and girls' needs, and then adjusted accordingly. The need for a rapid response should not be used as an excuse to pre-empt participation. What is needed instead, in particular given the wide range of actors involved in this context, is a broader discussion on how participation can be ensured in cases of emergencies and provision of humanitarian assistance through participatory planning in advance, as well as in monitoring and adjusting emergency responses. The standards contained in The Sphere Handbook recognize that participation by people affected by disaster is integral to humanitarian response.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Hygiene facilities and services must be culturally acceptable. Personal hygiene is a highly sensitive issue across regions and cultures. Differing perspectives on the acceptability of hygiene practices must be taken into account regarding the design, positioning and conditions of use for sanitation, hand-washing and menstrual hygiene facilities. Facilities should accommodate hygiene practices in specific cultures, such as anal and genital cleansing, and women's toilets must accommodate menstruation hygiene management needs, particularly with respect to privacy. Menstruation is taboo in many countries, which makes menstrual hygiene a major concern for the health and well-being of women, and particularly of girls, who may not have sufficient knowledge about managing menstruation to be able to develop good practices. Education is necessary at schools, for boys as well as girls, to start to address the social taboos associated with menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Achieving equality does not mean that everyone should be treated identically. With respect to water, sanitation and hygiene, human rights requires that everyone has equal access to services; but this does not mean that everyone must enjoy the same type of service, such as flush toilets, as these are not appropriate in all circumstances and contexts. Also some individuals or groups have specific needs such as menstrual hygiene for women and girls. However, States may need to adopt affirmative measures, giving preference to certain groups and individuals in order to redress past discrimination. Social, cultural, economic and political inequalities perpetuate social exclusion, and this needs to be carefully considered in the development of water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery options (see E/C.12/2002/11, para. 17).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph