The Scary Connection Between Sexual Assault and the Lack of Toilets [View all]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/11/19/world-toilet-day-oped?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-11-19-Refugees

Sexual assault has become a growing concern in India, where reported cases are on the rise. In 2012, the infamous gang rape and death of Delhi medical student Jyoti Singh rattled the nation’s conscience. But it wouldn’t be the last case of sexual violence to stir a media frenzy. In 2014, two teenage sisters from the state of Bihar went missing after leaving their home to defecate at night. They were later found raped, killed, and hanging from a tree. Nearly 400 rapes could have been avoided in 2012 if women had safe access to toilets, noted a Bihar police chief.

Of course, this issue affects Indians far beyond the borders of Bihar. Nationwide, around 70 percent of rural homes don’t have toilets. Over 50 percent of the population defecates in the open. Despite the health risks—diseases such as typhoid and cholera can be easily contracted by defecating in open, unsanitary conditions—India is still grappling to come to terms with this reality.

The issue is personal for me. As a woman, I understand what it means to feel unsafe walking down the street. Violence against women is not just a problem in India but across the globe. According to No Ceilings, one in three women worldwide has experienced physical and sexual violence. This crisis is not about an “uncivilized mind-set” of a particular culture. It’s about the legacy of a patriarchal and economically inequitable society that affects every single one of us. Our societies, wherein women are paid less than men, are allowed fewer political and social privileges than men, and are constantly objectified in popular culture, breed both inequality in access as well as a rape culture that validates violence against women. The inability to access something as basic as a toilet without the fear of being raped speaks to larger systemic issues.