Women in Mathare Valley are still avoiding public toilets even after years of expansion, because many facilities remain unsafe, costly, crowded or poorly kept. A study published on 21 November 2018 found that access alone has not fixed sanitation for women in the Nairobi settlement.
The research focused on Mathare Valley informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, and examined how women manage toilet use and menstruation in a dense urban area. It concluded that the real barrier is not simply the number of toilets, but whether women can use them safely, privately and affordably.
Earlier mapping in Mathare, carried out in 2011, recorded about 144 public toilet facilities. Even then, the pressure on the system was severe: between 17 and 232 people depended on a single toilet, and more than 70% of residents had to walk over 50 meters to reach one.
By 2016, efforts to expand sanitation had gathered pace. Sanergy had launched more than 140 toilets in Mathare, while other projects included Grand Challenge Canada-funded Banza toilets and the National Youth Service’s slum improvement project. Those initiatives aimed to improve access, drainage, rubbish collection and toilet management, but they did not remove the daily obstacles many women still face.
The study collected data in two phases between 2015 and 2017. Researchers worked with female residents in Mathare and the University of Nairobi to conduct 55 in-depth case studies, then followed up with 550 household-level surveys.
Its findings show that many women still fall back on unsafe alternatives. About one-third relied on a bucket, plastic bags or open defecation at least once during the day, and more than two-thirds used those methods at night. Within 24 hours, 75% had used plastic bags or buckets at least once, then disposed of the waste in open drains or rivers near their homes.
Public toilets were not treated as dependable spaces. Around 40% of women used them for some sanitation needs during the day, but could not rely on them exclusively. The article says fear of sexual assault, rape and theft shaped those choices, along with poor cleanliness and a lack of privacy.
Conditions inside the toilets also remained a problem. Some stalls had missing doors or locks, others were flooded or blocked, and some were not cleaned properly. In several cases, the gender sections were closed or the toilets were not open at all. Women also said they did not feel safe leaving home at night, even when a toilet was nearby.
Cost was another obstacle. Many toilets in Mathare charge between KES 3 and KES 10 per month for use, while family charges of KES 100 to KES 150 were also reported. The average household income in the settlement is about KES 8500, and estimated monthly spending often exceeds that figure, leaving little room for sanitation costs. The study also noted that some women do not control household spending decisions.
The wider context is one of rapid urban growth. About 6.5 million of Kenya’s 45.5 million people live in urban informal settlements, and the number living in such areas rose from 1.5 million in 1990 to more than 6.4 million in 2014. That growth has continued to strain sanitation systems.
Women in the study said they wanted more free urinals or similar spaces where they could urinate and change menstrual pads. The researchers argued that future interventions must go beyond building toilets and also address lighting, privacy and women’s safety, especially at night.
By Samantha Winter, Postdoctoral fellow, Rutgers University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
