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Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Women and girls need to have materials to manage their menstruation, which can be a particular burden for those living in poverty. The human rights to water and sanitation include the right of all to affordable, safe and hygienic menstruation materials, which should be subsidized or provided free of charge when necessary.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Levels of access to water and sanitation services affect men and women unequally. Because of their domestic roles and responsibilities, women are in greatest physical contact with contaminated water and human waste. Women and girls who hold their urine for long periods of time have a higher risk of bladder and kidney infections. In addition, they tend to avoid consuming liquids to prevent having to use the toilet, as a result of which many become dehydrated.
- 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
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Although women - at every economic level, all over the world - may suffer disproportionate disadvantages and discrimination, they cannot be seen as a homogenous group. Different women are situated differently and face different challenges and barriers in relationship to water, sanitation and hygiene. Gender-based inequalities are exacerbated when they are coupled with other grounds for discrimination and disadvantages. Examples include when women and girls lack adequate access to water and sanitation and at the same time suffer from poverty, live with a disability, suffer from incontinence, live in remote areas, lack security of tenure, are imprisoned or are homeless. In these cases, they will be more likely to lack access to adequate facilities, to face exclusion or to experience vulnerability and additional health risks. The effects of social factors such as caste, age, marital status, profession, sexual orientation and gender identity are compounded when they intersect with other grounds for discrimination. In some States, women sanitation workers are particularly vulnerable, as they are exposed to an extremely dirty environment and contamination, which have a far greater impact during pregnancy and menstruation. Women belonging to certain minorities, including indigenous peoples and ethnic and religious groups, may face exclusion and disadvantages on multiple grounds. Those factors are not exhaustive and may change over time.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Different levels and types of services and the human rights to water and sanitation 2015, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- Considerations of menstrual hygiene are particularly important for issues related to health, education and gender equality. Facilities for menstrual hygiene management must include a system of disposal of sanitary materials and a place for washing reusable materials. Systems should be designed with the participation of users to make sure that they are relevant, appropriate and not liable to increase the stigmatization of girls and women during their periods. Cultural acceptability is essential to determine the type of technology used.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The regulation of sanitation facilities should provide that they are designed and built in a way that effectively prevents human, animal and insect contact with human excreta, and should safeguard access to safe water for handwashing, anal and genital cleansing and menstrual hygiene, and ensure mechanisms for the hygienic disposal of menstrual products (see A/HRC/12/24, para. 72). The Special Rapporteur recommends that regulations require that the specific needs of women and girls are incorporated into the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation facilities (see A/HRC/33/49, para. 77 (h)). To that end, their participation in the design of the facilities should be sought by service providers.
- 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
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Standards in regulations and building codes should include special needs for women and girls, and must be developed for schools, hospitals, the workplace, market places, places of detention and public transport hubs and public institutions, among other places. Standards should consider general menstrual hygiene needs, but also who the users are likely to be. Standards must subsequently be implemented, put in practice and accordingly be enforced at all levels. Everyone should be able to use the toilet corresponding to the person's gender identity and States must pay attention to the special needs of more vulnerable persons, including those with disabilities and the elderly.
- 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
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Worldwide, there are more possibilities for men than for women to relieve themselves outside the house. Examples include the plenty free-to-use urinals for men in the capital of the Netherlands. In India, public facilities for men outnumber those for women by up to 42 per cent. The construction of public urinals to tackle open urination by men is relatively easy, as such urinals do not need to have doors and locks, have no seat to turn up, generally use less water and are therefore a relatively cheaper solution. States must set targets to scale up adequate public sanitation facilities for women and girls.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Private facilities in or close to the home provide for privacy and safety, which is particularly relevant for women and girls, particularly the eldest, those living with disabilities and those who are pregnant or menstruating. Moreover, it is estimated that one in four women over the age of 35 experiences incontinence and that women disproportionately suffer from a lack of adequate and private facilities. Having a water supply on the premises reduces the time spent on fetching water, cleaning the household and caring for family members. It eliminates the need for transportation and the risk of unsafe storage, reducing the risk of health problems such as musculoskeletal disorders and water-related diseases. States must prioritize water and sanitation provision to households not yet served and, in particular, those households where women and girls have the least adequate alternatives.
- 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
- Girls
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Many women and girls risk their health using unhygienic sanitary methods, for example by using dirty rags or newspapers to collect menstrual fluids, as other methods are unaffordable, unavailable or unknown owing to stigma and taboos relating to menstruation. Although women in western countries use, on average, at least 12,000 tampons during their lifetime, there is no extensive and publicly available knowledge on the safety of tampon usage. States are required to enact regulations on the safety of industrially produced menstrual products. Different women prefer different menstrual products, which include cloths and menstrual cups. Information must be provided so women can use the product they feel most comfortable with, with the knowledge and skills to manage their menses hygienically. States must further ensure affordable health care for all women and girls, including for menstrual issues and incontinence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In addition to risking physical violence, women and girls may also experience sanitation-related psychosocial stress, including fear of sexual violence. Women and girls who have limited access to sanitation facilities experience environmental barriers when they engage in water, sanitation and hygiene practices, including carrying water, managing menstruation, defecating and bathing, that contribute to that kind of stress. Examples include the fear of encountering snakes and mosquitos when walking to a defecation site, or the stress caused by social norms that view the fact of being seen by men while bathing as negative, among other issues. A better understanding of the range of causes of stress and adaptive behaviours is needed to inform context-specific, gender-sensitive water and sanitation interventions.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender equality in the realization of the human rights to water and sanitation 2016, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Practices and beliefs are different in every culture, but generally menstruation is considered to be something unclean or impure and contact between men and women during menstruation is viewed as something that should be avoided. Girls and women are sometimes not allowed to use the same toilets as men or are barred from certain locations. Girls all over the world grow up with the idea that menstruation is something they should hide and not speak about - an embarrassing event associated with shame. This powerful stigma and taboo surrounding menstruation translates into fear of leaking or staining clothes. Worldwide, women and girls prefer to hide the fact that they are menstruating. Data collected in Senegal shows that, owing to shame, menstrual material, once washed, is mainly dried in secluded, private and dark locations, such as tiled rooms or even under pillows, instead of in direct sunlight, which would reduce the risk of infection by ensuring that pathogens do not grow.
- 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
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
23 shown of 23 entities