Impact of Open Defecation on Women in India (original) (raw)

The Puzzle Of Open Defecation In India: A Different Perspective

This article discuss the Open defecation is one of the main reasons, why the infant of rural India are more likely to die and stunted. It is not only adversely affect the children health but also going to affect the human capital in recent future in terms of low productivity, and which lead to "vicious circle of poverty" through market failure. It is again a prestige issue for more particularly women. Most of the times during going to relax in the morning or evening, women are more likely to be sexually assaulted as compared to their counterpart male. Thus more precisely open defecation is adversely affecting the Health, Wealth and Dignity of the nation. Hence, it is demonstrated that the high open defecation is not the by-product of the high poverty rate, lack of education, lack of water, lack of access to toilet and poor governance; rather it is a direct consequence of the social exclusion on the line of caste. Therefore for the solution of the open defecation, the researchers and policymaker should focus more on caste puzzle than other factors

Open Defecation: Awareness & Practices of Rural Districts of Tamil Nadu, India

International Journal of Scientific Research, 2012

In the most developing countries the open defecation is the 'way of life'. The habit of open defecation is inseparably integrated in the day to day life of the people especially in the rural areas and urban slums of India. The practice is considered as most serious health and environmental hazard. (WHO Fact Sheet, 2014).It is harder to bend the iron mind of people with regard to open defecation, which they feel that they practice over many generations. This paper is an attempt to bring out the awareness level and practices of 1800 randomly selected households from 60 panchyaths of Namakkal, Perambalur and Pudukkottai Districts of Tamil Nadu on open defecation. The study revealed that open defecation and its attendant medical problems were rampant in the community with nobody even bothering to do anything to overcome it. While open defecation was in practice, many women specially mothers (98%) did not know how to dispose of their children's feaces safely.

Open Defecation in India

Economic and Political Weekly, 2014

This study identifies 11 issues that have inhibited the spread of a comprehensive sanitation programme. It emphasises the complexity of issues and helps avoid the facile targeting of the poor as deficient citizens, whose latrine practices are viewed as a "primitive" source of social disorder and disease. Recognition that many factors are involved and interrelated might also serve as a warning against patchwork policies that disregard local context in their haste to proclaim another district an "open defecation free zone".

Open Defecation and Poor Sanitation Condition a Serious Menace to Human Health and Dignity: A Micro Level Analysis of Indian Villages

International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 2020

Open defection is the practice of people defecting outside and not into a designated toilet. In rural India the open defection practices is the way of life. According to 2011 Census of India, 53.12 Per cent of the rural household did not use any kind of toilet. Human excreta are the principal source of over 50 types of infections and causes almost 80 per cent of human diseases. The main objectives of this research paper is to know the health related problems of open defecators people and what are the major causes to such practices. Malda district of West Bengal has been selected as a study area, which is the gateway of North Bengal. The study is based on primary and secondary sources of data. The study reveals that the practice of open defection poses serious health risk to the rural peoples of Malda district of West Bengal. It is evident from the study that Diarrhea (Dysentary) is the highest prone disease (36.67 per cent) and Cholera is the lowest diseases (1.00) per cent among the peoples caused by open defection especially (0-5 years children). The study also provoked that, the major causes of open defection in the study area are-unwillingness to discontinue the personal habits of open defection that is 41.67 per cent and attitude of the people like construct a toilet in home brings impurity and unhygienic etc. The Central and state government has enforced many schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Nirmal Bangla Abhiyan, Clean India Mission for Open Defection Free (ODF) but these schemes are fruitful in the study area.

Understanding Open Defecation in Rural India

India has far higher open defecation rates than other developing regions where people are poorer, literacy rates are lower, and water is relatively more scarce. In practice, government programmes in rural India have paid little attention in understanding why so many rural Indians defecate in the open rather than use affordable pit latrines. Drawing on new data, a study points out that widespread open defecation in rural India is on account of beliefs, values, and norms about purity, pollution, caste, and untouchability that cause people to reject affordable latrines. Future rural sanitation programmes must address villagers’ ideas about pollution, pit-emptying, and untouchability, and should do so in ways that accelerate progress towards social equality for Dalits rather than delay it.

Tackling Open Defecation and Improved Sanitation in Developing Countries: A Toilet Talk from the State of Bihar, India

Current Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities

Open defecation is a major blot on India’s overall reputation as an emerging economy as it still remains stubbornly widespread across rural India. The present paper outlines the economic and psychological aspects of toilets construction and their sustainable usage in two districts of the state of Biharviz. Gopalganj& Bhagalpur. Bihar’s performance is not up to the mark with respect to the sanitation figures among other states of India. It was found that households owning a government constructed latrine,still defecate in the open. Study evidences support a preference for open defecation; many survey respondents reported that open defecation was more comfortable and desirable than latrine use. Old people prefer going outside as they are used to this routineand do not mind defecating in the open for the rest of their lives.The study was conducted with an objective to better understand and assess the issues and strategies of behavioural change, policies present in the system and sugges...

Open defecation in cities: A faltering India story Meera Mehta , Dinesh Mehta

While India is home to about 11% of the world's urban population, it has over 47% of the world's population practicing open defecation (OD) 1 . India also fares worse than other countries at similar income levels (Asian Development Bank (ADB) 2009). The 2011 Census of India provides some startling results. Nearly 12% of urban households resort to OD and another 8% use public or shared toilet facilities 2 . The situation is far worse in smaller cities (population below 100,000), with OD rates around 22%. Though significantly less prevalent than in rural India, OD in urban settings poses more serious challenges. With higher population densities and a lack of safe spaces, OD affords little dignity and poses grave security risks for women. Moreover, recent literature suggests that OD causes stunting among Indian children, particularly in more dense urban areas (Ghosh et al. 2014, Rheingans et al. (2012), Spears 2013). Access to on-premise toilets in cities explains the OD variat...

FREEDOM FROM OPEN DEFECATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY FROM TWO ADIVASI VILLAGES OF RURAL AREAS

International Journal of Management(IJM), 2020

This paper found that 35% of Adivasis have health problems, and 73% said that they are getting treatment with RMP. 87% have toilet facility and more than 12% still defecate openly. 18.3% said that they faced different problems at open defecation, and 50% of women not using sanitary napkins. Nearly 90% of respondents wash their hands after toilets and coming from outside of the home. Ten per cent of respondents said that they do not have an awareness of sanitation. Therefore, the study confirmed that the sanitation facilities considerably made the women's dignity and quality of life better in the study area. Moreover, four case studies also focused on open defecation problems in the study area.

Determinants of open-air defecation in rural Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu

International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 2020

Background: Open defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out in fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces rather than using toilet to defecate. This practice contributes to the emergence of infectious diseases which forms a threat to health of people. This study attempts to find the prevalence of open-air defecation (OAD) and to explore factors influencing the practice. Methods: The present study was a community based cross-sectional study taken up in the C. Manampadi village covering 153 households. A semi structured questionnaire along with the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: Our study results show that 35.3% of the households had no toilet facility in their houses and were practicing open air defecation. There was a significant association between open air defection and variables like literacy level of head of the family, community and water adequacy. Conclusions: This study highlights that the study population practices OAD not due to economic in sufficiency but due to social constraints.

Open Defecation in India: An Assessment of Swachh Bharat Mission 2015-16 to 2019-21

Economic & Political Weekly, 2023

Universal access to safe sanitation by reducing subnational inequality is a huge challenge for a country like India. The union government launched the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014, intending to end the practice of open defecation by 2019. The article examines the current state and temporal changes in OD across subnational levels using data from the National Family Health Surveys 4 (2015-16) and 5 (2019-21). While the practice has decreased signifi cantly, from 38.88% of households in 2015-16 to 19.36% in 2019-21, it remains relatively higher in central and eastern Indian states. The fi ndings suggest further modifi cation of the SBM project's implementation strategies in these states.