Women, water and sanitation in India: dignity, safety and unpaid care
See how water and sanitation gaps shift unpaid work and safety risks onto women, then use a practical access plan for homes, schools, workplaces and communities.
In this guide
Water and sanitation are power issues
Collecting water, finding a usable toilet and managing hygiene are basic needs, yet families and programmes often treat them as women’s private responsibility. Time, privacy and control over services shape freedom to study, work, rest and participate.
Name the work that keeps water flowing
Fetching water, queuing for a tanker, storing containers, cleaning toilets, buying fuel, helping children and caring for someone who is ill are labour. Record who does it and how much time it takes rather than calling it ‘just household work.’
Distance changes the risk
A long or unreliable route can expose a woman or girl to harassment, injury, traffic, animals, heat, caste abuse or pressure to wait until dark. A nearby tap that is locked or unsafe is not meaningful access.
Privacy is part of sanitation
A person needs a toilet, bathing space and place to change or dispose of menstrual products without surveillance, humiliation or punishment. A family member or employer should not use access to water or a toilet to control her body.
Access is not the same for every woman
Disability, pregnancy, age, illness, caste, tribe, migration, poverty, language and displacement can change the route, equipment and support someone needs. Ask the person what would make the facility usable.
Control over the service matters
A connection in a household or settlement does not guarantee that women can decide when water is collected, how money is spent or who may use the toilet. Track decision power as well as infrastructure.
Make daily access safer
A useful plan starts with the real route and the real schedule. Design around the person’s privacy, health, mobility and fear of retaliation, not an ideal household that does not exist.
Map the whole journey
Note the source, queue, transport, stairs, lighting, crowding, payment point, storage and return route. Ask when the place is least safe and whether a trusted companion or alternate time helps.
Keep containers and equipment workable
Taps, handles, toilets, ramps, buckets and storage should match the user’s strength, height, mobility and sensory needs. A woman should not have to lift an unsafe load or lose wages to obtain water.
Plan for menstruation, pregnancy and illness
Water, soap, privacy, rest, disposal or washing space and access to health care may be needed. Ask what the person prefers and avoid forcing a product, helper or public disclosure.
Set a safe fallback
Keep a second source, emergency water, a phone or code word and a trusted contact when possible. A fallback should not require a woman to walk alone at night or borrow from someone who uses help as leverage.
Protect children without assigning the job to girls
Teach children how to ask for help and use a safe facility, while adults and institutions share collection and cleaning. A daughter’s school attendance should not be the flexible part of the water plan.
| Need or route | What fails now? | Safer person or system change |
|---|---|---|
| Drinking and cooking water | ||
| Toilet, bathing and menstrual privacy | ||
| Collection, storage and transport | ||
| Emergency or disruption backup |
Climate and emergencies increase the burden
Drought, floods, heat, contamination, displacement and service outages can turn an ordinary task into a safety crisis. Gender-responsive planning shares the work and gives women authority over recovery resources.
Count time and income lost
When a source fails, someone may miss a shift, class, medical appointment or sleep to queue elsewhere. Record these costs so a project is judged by reliable access, not only by construction.
Protect women in shelters and relief lines
Provide lighting, private toilets, water points, menstrual supplies, disability access, child-safe spaces and a way to report harassment. Do not require a husband or community leader to collect supplies.
Use local knowledge as expertise
Women often know which sources dry up, flood, become contaminated or attract violence. Pay for this knowledge and include women in decisions about location, maintenance and emergency distribution.
Keep documents and medicines dry and reachable
During a move, protect identity records, prescriptions, assistive devices, phone charging and a safe contact. Losing a document or medicine can make a later service complaint much harder.
Do not make resilience another unpaid shift
A plan that asks women to monitor every tank, cook for a shelter and care for children without rest simply transfers the crisis. Fund staff, transport, childcare and maintenance.
Rights, accountability and safer complaints
Water and sanitation programmes involve public bodies, contractors, schools, landlords, employers and community groups. The route for a failure depends on the service and location, so keep a record and ask for the responsible office.
Ask for the service standard
Request the operating hours, quality information, fees, maintenance contact and outage plan in a language and format you can use. A written response helps distinguish a delay from a refusal.
Keep a small, safe record
Note dates, source failures, payments, unsafe incidents, photos of infrastructure and complaint numbers when safe. Do not photograph people, toilets or private medical details without consent.
Use an independent explanation
A legal-services authority or community organisation can help identify the department, grievance forum, accessibility duty or compensation question. Advice should be based on the actual service and documents.
Separate a service complaint from violence
A broken tap may need an administrative complaint; caste abuse, sexual harassment, assault, threats or confinement need a safety and protection response as well. Do not force a survivor to settle violence through a village meeting.
Call for urgent help when danger is immediate
Move toward a staffed place and use 112 when there is serious injury, a weapon, confinement or imminent violence. Women Helpline 181 and One Stop Centres may connect further support; confirm a safe contact method.
Families, schools and workplaces can share the work
A fair arrangement changes who decides, who pays and who maintains the service. It does not ask one woman to become the unpaid manager of everyone’s water and hygiene.
Rotate collection and cleaning
Adults, boys and girls can share age-appropriate tasks. Make the schedule visible and adjust it for disability, illness, exams, paid work and rest rather than quietly assigning the heaviest work to women.
Give women direct information and money
Let women see bills, scheme records, maintenance plans and committee decisions. Do not route every payment, complaint or connection through a male relative.
Make schools safe to attend
Provide usable toilets, water, privacy, menstrual support, handwashing, lighting and a trusted complaint route. Attendance should not depend on a girl hiding a bodily need.
Make workplaces usable
Employers should provide accessible toilets, drinking water, rest and safe travel arrangements, including for domestic, agricultural, informal and platform workers where applicable.
Budget for maintenance and accountability
Count cleaning, repairs, staff, transport, accessibility, water quality checks and feedback in the recurring budget. Ask women users whether the service works in practice.
Questions people ask
Is water collection a women’s issue?
It affects everyone, but gendered expectations often put the time, danger and responsibility on women and girls. A good plan changes the distribution of work and gives women decision power.
What if the only toilet is unsafe or locked?
Do not treat that as access. Ask for a safe temporary route, maintenance and privacy, and consider a support or complaint pathway if threats, harassment or discrimination are involved.
Should I publish photos of a failed facility?
Only when the person and location can remain safe and the image is needed. A private record and an official complaint may be safer than public exposure.
What if a family threatens me for asking for water or sanitation?
Your need is not misconduct. Check whether contact is monitored, use a safer support route and seek urgent help if there is violence, confinement or a threat. Do not confront a group alone.
What can a supporter say?
‘You should not have to risk your safety or lose your school, work or rest to secure water. What change would make the route usable for you?’
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Sources and publication record
Draft prepared 16 September 2026; project-team editorial review pending · Sources checked .
- International Day of Care and Support: unpaid care workUN Women
- Menstrual hygiene management in schools in South Asia: India country snapshotUNICEF India
- Explainer: how gender inequality and climate change are interconnectedUN Women Regional Knowledge Hub
- Disaster Management Act, 2005, as amendedIndia Code, Legislative Department
- The Constitution of India (official 2024 edition)Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice
- Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987India Code, Legislative Department
- Free legal services and National Legal Aid Helpline 15100National Legal Services Authority
- Emergency Response Support System 112Ministry of Home Affairs
- Women Helpline 181Ministry of Women and Child Development
- One Stop Centre schemeMinistry of Women and Child Development
- Key Highlights: Gender Budget Allocations in Union Budget 2025–26Press Information Bureau, Government of India