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Rights of rural women 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- Rural women and girls are among those most affected by water scarcity; a situation that is aggravated by unequal access to natural resources and the lack of infrastructure and services. Rural women and girls are frequently obliged to walk long distances to fetch water, sometimes exposing them to a heightened risk of sexual violence and attacks. Owing to poor rural infrastructure and services in many regions, rural women often spend four to five hours per day (or more) collecting water from sometimes poor-quality sources, carrying heavy containers and suffering acute physical problems, as well as facing illnesses caused by the use of unsafe water. Various forms of low-cost and effective technology exist that could ease the burden, including well-drilling technology, water extraction systems, wastewater reuse technology, labour-saving irrigation technology, rain-harvesting and household water treatment and purification systems.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 39e
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should safeguard the right of rural women and girls to adequate health care, and ensure:] That rural health-care facilities have adequate water and sanitation services;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- In the absence of toilets or latrines, rural women and girls must also walk long distances in search of privacy. The lack of adequate sanitation also increases their risk of ill health. To remedy this situation, rural women and girls must have physical and economic access to sanitation that is safe, hygienic, secure and socially and culturally acceptable.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 85b
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should ensure that rural women have access to essential services and public goods, including:] Adequate sanitation and hygiene, enabling women and girls to manage their menstrual hygiene and have access to sanitary pads;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 43h
- Paragraph text
- [States parties should protect the right of rural girls and women to education, and ensure that:] Schools in rural areas have adequate water facilities and separate, safe, sheltered latrines for girls and offer hygiene education and resources for menstrual hygiene, with special focus on girls with disabilities;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Rights of rural women 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- The rights of rural women and girls to water and sanitation are not only essential rights in themselves but also key to the realization of a wide range of other rights, including rights to health, food, education and participation.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Women and girls with disabilities 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Acts of violence, exploitation and/or abuse against women with disabilities that violate article 16 includes, but is not limited to: women who aquire a disability as a consequence of violence, physical force; economic coercion; trafficking, deception; misinformation; abandonment; the absence of free and informed consent and legal compulsion; neglect, including the withholding or denying access to medication; removing or controlling communication aids or refusal of assistance to communicate; denying personal mobility and accessibility such as removing or destroying accessibility features such as ramps, or assistive devices such as a white cane or mobility devices such as a wheelchair, refusal of caregivers to assist with daily living such as bathing, menstrual and/or sanitation management, dressing and eating, thus denying the right to live independently and freedom from degrading treatment; denial of food or water, or threat of any of these acts; bullying, verbal abuse and ridicule on the grounds of disability causing fear by intimidation; harming or threatening to harm, removing or killing pets or assistance dogs, or destroying objects; psychological manipulation; and controlling behaviours involving restricting face-to-face or virtual access to family, friends or others.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The activities and operations of business enterprises can impact on the realization of article 6 in different ways. For example, environmental degradation and contamination arising from business activities can compromise children's rights to health, food security and access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Selling or leasing land to investors can deprive local populations of access to natural resources linked to their subsistence and cultural heritage; the rights of indigenous children may be particularly at risk in this context. The marketing to children of products such as cigarettes and alcohol as well as foods and drinks high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, sugar, salt or additives can have a long-term impact on their health. When business employment practices require adults to work long hours, older children, particularly girls, may take on their parent's domestic and childcare obligations, which can negatively impact their right to education and to play; additionally, leaving children alone or in the care of older siblings can have implications for the quality of care and the health of younger children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that housing includes water points and sanitation facilities available for and accessible to women, ensuring women their rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. States should also ensure that housing is adequately located in order to provide women with access to employment options, health-care services, schools, childcare centres and other social facilities, such that they are non-discriminatory, adequate, available and fully accessible to women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Water points and sanitation facilities must be made available and accessible to women, ensuring women's rights to water and sanitation, as well as to health. In order to ensure that women's needs are adequately reflected in housing law, policy, and programming, a human rights-based approach requires that women be able to participate in all stages of policy and programme development, so that they are able to give input into the kinds of resources most needed by them within their specific social and cultural context. For example, the recent Inter-Agency Standing Committee guidelines on addressing gender issues in the aftermath of Haiti's earthquake of January 2010 highlighted that "it is essential that water and sanitation actors consult women and girls on the location of sanitation facilities to ensure that the route is safe; that latrines be well lit, lockable from the inside, and offer privacy."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Indeed, in its recent concluding observations on Kenya, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern over "the situation of women and girls living in urban slums and informal settlements and who are under threat of sexual violence and lack access to adequate to sanitation facilities, which exacerbate their risks of being victims of sexual violence and impact negatively on their health."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- For example, inadequate State provision of key infrastructure such as energy and water and sanitation facilities has a disproportionate impact on poor women and girls living in rural areas in developing countries, who spend large amounts of time collecting water and fuel for household use. Studies indicate that in sub-Saharan Africa 71 per cent of the burden of collecting water for households falls on women and girls, who in total spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water, equivalent to a year's worth of labour by the entire workforce in France.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that women's rights are fully respected, social protection programmes must be accompanied by gender-sensitive social services, including sexual and reproductive health care. This requires investment in public services, without which social protection programmes will not be effective. Women and girls, for example, may be prevented from meeting conditionalities imposed by a programme if social services are far away and transportation costs are too high, or if they fear being sexually assaulted while making the trip required. Girls may not attend school if there are no separate sanitation facilities for them or if they are harassed by teachers or other students. Mothers may not bring their children to the hospital owing to discriminatory practices on the part of health-care providers (for example, requesting the consent of the husband) or communication difficulties (for example, women might be expected to demonstrate some form of literacy or might not be able to communicate in their minority language). In the same vein, women may choose not to use clinics for child delivery because of a lack of skilled birth attendants or culturally appropriate birthing methods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Priorities for the work of the Independent Expert and the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 2012, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Sex- and minority-based discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay also create significant barriers for minority women. Increasingly informal labour markets - a result of globalization - have brought more women into paid work, but often with low pay, excluded from basic labour protection and employed under poor working conditions. This renders the conditions under which minority women - and all too often young girls - earn incomes that may be insecure, difficult, harmful or even dangerous. Their workload can be made heavier by the lack of such basic amenities as clean water and sanitation, the availability of child-care support and protection against domestic and social violence. Minority girls and women in difficult circumstances are often forced to find survival opportunities outside their communities and home, and can easily fall victim to trafficking, exploitation and illegal migration within or outside their own country, which makes them even more vulnerable.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2012
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
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
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
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- People who do not conform to a fixed idea of gender may experience violence and abuse when using gender-segregated sanitation facilities. Gender non-conforming people face harassment in or avoid gender-segregated public toilets altogether out of fear. For example, transgender girls who use the boys' toilets and transgender boys who use the girls' toilet in schools are highly vulnerable to bullying, harassment and assault by other students. Research from India indicates that transgender persons face difficulties in finding rental housing and are often forced to live in remote slum areas, where access to water and sanitation facilities is poor.
- 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
- Boys
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities between genders taking into consideration the different interests, needs and priorities and recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality means that everyone must be able to enjoy the rights to water and sanitation equally. In order to attain substantive equality, therefore, it is necessary to address the specific gendered circumstances that act as barriers to the realization of those rights for women and girls in practice. States must assess existing legislation, policies and strategies, and find out to what extent the enjoyment of the rights to water and sanitation between men and women are equally guaranteed. On the basis of that review, remedies should be provided and gender-responsive strategies should be developed that guide policymaking and the corresponding allocation of budgets. Temporary affirmative measures will in many cases be necessary.
- 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
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In humanitarian situations, including in times of conflict or natural disaster, when water and sanitation sources are at a minimum, the specific needs of women and girls are often not taken into account. It is vital to better understand and share experiences about the kinds of responses that can be deployed across the diverse range of emergencies, including the most adequate and effective adaptations and interventions. It further requires an integrated approach and ongoing coordination among all sectors concerned. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people face additional challenges in areas affected by disaster. A recent United Nations assessment found that, in Europe, women and girls who are refugees are vulnerable to violence and lack services that specifically meet their needs, such as private bathing and sanitation facilities. Some women have reported having stopped eating or drinking to avoid going to the toilet where they felt unsafe. The reaction of Governments and others to these situations is considered inadequate and there is an emphasis on the urgent need to scale up such response efforts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Use of hygiene facilities and services must be available at a price that is affordable to all people. The main costs, other than for installation, are associated with supplying water, soap and cleaning products for hand-washing, food hygiene, home hygiene and washing clothes, and for sanitary napkins or other products required for menstrual hygiene. Paying for these services must not limit people's capacity to acquire other basic goods and services guaranteed by human rights, such as food, housing, health services and education. Assistance should be provided to households or individuals who are unable to afford soap and cleaning products, or sanitary products for women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Affordability is of special concern to women and girls, who often have less access to financial resources than men. Women and girls need toilets for urination, defecation and menstrual hygiene management as well as for assisting younger children. Combined with women's lower access to financial resources, pay-per-use toilets with the same user fee for men and women are in practice often more expensive for women. Besides, public urinals are often free for men but not for women. To tackle this, the municipal government of Mumbai is currently constructing several toilet blocks the maintenance of which is financed through family passes instead of by charging a fee for each use. Some public toilets can be used free of charge by women and other groups that often lack access to economic resources, such as children and older people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Men
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- According to international human rights law, States must allocate their maximum available resources to the progressive realization of human rights, paying particular attention to the rights and needs of the most marginalized segments of the population. Progressive policies and plans will be rendered worthless, however, without a proper budget. A gender analysis supports Governments in making better budget-related choices by highlighting existing gender inequalities and the impact of public expenditures on women and girls. States should promote gender mainstreaming in budgeting activities for water sanitation and hygiene, and increase women's participation in budgeting processes. Specialized units throughout government can be tasked with oversight.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
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
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Soap and clean water for personal hygiene is of particular importance during menstruation. Women and girls must be able to use clean materials to absorb or collect menstrual fluid, and change them regularly and in privacy. They must have access to water and soap to wash their hands and body and facilities to dispose safely and hygienically of menstrual materials like pads, cups, cloths and tampons. Facilities must be easy to maintain and to clean. Women and girls with disabilities face unique challenges in accessing sanitation facilities. Their ability to properly manage their hygiene may be particularly compromised and, when facilities do not provide for the space and materials they need, they are especially prone to diseases. Service providers must ensure that facilities are designed with the participation of women and girls in order to adapt them to their biological and sociocultural needs. The specific needs of women and girls must be incorporated into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of sanitation facilities. Approaches must go beyond advocacy to address policies, infrastructure, maintenance systems and monitoring in order to ensure that services are adapted to the specific needs of users by, for example, taking into account their bodies, including their physical abilities, and their age. Formal independent regulators, as well as locally based participatory water and sanitation committees, should monitor whether regulations are well interpreted, implemented and effective.
- 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
- Women
- Year
- 2016
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
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
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Certain human rights obligations related to hygiene can be inferred from the rights to water and sanitation, as well as the right to health, the right to food, the right to privacy, human dignity and other human rights. This report focuses on the human rights obligations related to hand-washing at appropriate times, menstrual hygiene, management of child faeces and domestic food hygiene. A working group created under WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation explained that "… various components are considered essential to menstrual hygiene management. The first is that women and adolescent girls use clean materials to absorb or collect menstrual blood, and are able to change them in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of their menstrual period. It also involves using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to safe and convenient facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials. Further, women and girls need access to basic information about the menstrual cycle and how to manage it with dignity and without discomfort or fear."
- 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
- Adolescents
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Poor menstruation management has far-reaching consequences for society as a whole and a lack of knowledge by both women and men reinforces the taboos on this topic. Education, awareness-raising and training sessions are important ways to address this problem. Moreover, it is not only girls and boys, but also teachers, government officials, community-based health workers and development staff, who must be informed on menstruation and its management. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation of India has issued menstrual hygiene management guidelines containing various approaches to creating an environment in which menstrual hygiene is considered acceptable and normal. Education on menstruation should focus on girls before menarche to ensure girls are aware of what will happen to their bodies in time.
- 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
- Boys
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph