Hurtubise: Imagine your life without a proper bathroom

In Canada, it is easy to take your toilet for granted – lock the door, do your business and flush. Yet, more than 2.3 billion people in the world still have nowhere decent to go to the toilet.

Why should we care?

Because the alternative to providing safe, decent toilets is a world where millions of people defecate in the open and get sick. Not only is this a fundamental indignity, it has far-reaching consequences that we often don’t fully understand or seldom talk about.

But stigma and taboos around toilets and sanitation must be challenged.

Out of Order: State of the World’s Toilets 2017, a report released by WaterAid for World Toilet Day, shows that almost one in three women and girls live without access to a decent toilet. Of them, 446 million women around the world have no choice but to defecate in the open, and millions more use toilets that are not hygienic or safe. Picture a rickety latrine hanging over a cliff.

For those women who must defecate in the open, going to the toilet means shame or worse, the possibility of being attacked. Such gender-based violence often goes unreported due to fear and humiliation.

What’s more, taboos regarding women’s sexual and reproductive health mean that these issues are often not discussed by governments, communities, women and men.

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Toilets around the world

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 12, 2017 shows the historic public toilet at the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leasure in Moscow. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOVMLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images
MLADEN ANTONOV, AFP/Getty ImagesMLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 14, 2017 shows a man walking into a public toilet at Hangang park in Seoul. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / JUNG Yeon-JeJUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images
JUNG YEON-JE, AFP/Getty ImagesJUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 10, 2017 shows Indian youths using a mobile toilet facility at a park in Hyderabad on November 10, 2017. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / NOAH SEELAMNOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images
NOAH SEELAM, AFP/Getty ImagesNOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 09, 2017 shows an Indian man walk past public urinals in Hyderabad on November 8, 2017. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / NOAH SEELAMNOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images
NOAH SEELAM, AFP/Getty ImagesNOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 15, 2017 shows a public toilet in the Kosovo capital of Pristina. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / Armend NIMANIARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images
ARMEND NIMANI, AFP/Getty ImagesARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 9, 2017 shows a public rest room at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California, November 7, 2017. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / Robyn BeckROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
ROBYN BECK, AFP/Getty ImagesROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

WORLD-TOILET-DAY-PACKAGE
This photo taken on November 12, 2017 shows a public toilet in Berlin. AFP is presenting a worlwide photo theme on public toilets ahead of the United Nations World Toilet Day on November 19, 2017 as some 4.5 billion people live without a household toilet that safely disposes of their waste according to the UN. The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015 by the UN, include a target to ensure everyone has access to a safely-managed household toilet by 2030. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19 as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. / AFP PHOTO / John MACDOUGALLJOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images
JOHN MACDOUGALL, AFP/Getty ImagesJOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images

Living without a toilet also has a negative impact on a child’s ability to get a good education, especially girls. Girls often drop out of school when they don’t have a safe and private toilet to stay clean and manage their periods. It’s also hard to attract and retain teachers in schools where there isn’t any decent sanitation.

A lack of decent toilets also affects pregnant women and their babies. One-fifth of stunting begins in the womb because mothers are malnourished. Hookworms, which can be spread by open defecation, cause diarrhea, anaemia and weight loss in women and are linked to low birth weight and slow child growth.

Not surprisingly, inadequate facilities in the workplace can affect a woman’s ability to earn a livelihood. Imagine not having a toilet at work. A study in Bangladesh showed that women miss up to six days of work per month when they don’t have toilets. By closing the gender gaps in the workforce, which includes a lack of access to toilets, we could add as much as $28 trillion to global annual GDP by 2025.

This is the daily reality for millions of women and girls the world over.

If we consider the incredible liberties we enjoy in this country, this reality is incomprehensible.

Having to find a safe place to relieve oneself in the open is undignified and unsafe. Everyone deserves access to a decent toilet. But access to clean water, decent toilets and basic hygiene empowers women and girls.

Canada’s new Feminist International Assistance Policy is centred on advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. By addressing the most basic of indignities and providing clean, safe toilets, Canada can help transform the lives of the poorest and marginalized, especially women and girls.

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