Sanitation, Gender Inequality, and Implications for Rights
This chapter unpacks specific gender dimensions of the law and policy framework for rural sanitation in India and its implementation in order to assess its contribution to the realization of the right to sanitation of women. The core question that informs the discussion is whether the framework represents a shift towards or away from gender equality. This chapter focuses on three aspects in particular. The first section examines the extent to which the framework accommodates the issues of privacy and dignity of women as well as certain women specific sanitation needs. The second section contextualizes the position of women in terms of participation and agency. The third section analyses the issue of safety, particularly gender-based violence in the context of open-defecation or access to public toilets.