Women need better access to public restrooms

I had once resorted to using a public washroom when I was about the age of six. The traffic was miserable that day, and I couldn't hold it much longer. It was traumatising and I've never spoken of it since. Despite my attempts to erase the memory, I've found it extremely difficult to forget the stench of ammonia and the splatters of faeces across the walls, all tied in nicely with puddles of mud on a floor of what possibly was white tile at some point. I have not been to a public toilet ever since.

I'm very particular about my bathroom preferences. I've also lived a significant portion of my life commuting for an average of three to four hours a day—ever since I was in school. So, my circumstances have led me to develop an extremely meticulous bathroom schedule and an even more accurate map of spots I could resort to in case of an emergency.

To nobody's surprise, none of the aforementioned spots include any of Dhaka city's public toilets, and for good reason. I travel to and from Uttara and Farmgate about six days a week, using either the metro rail, the expressway, or one of the "regular routes" (via Banani or Hatirjheel). On the way, there are one or two of the newly renovated public toilets, with one of them being about 100 metres from my destination, and the other quite a bit off my usual routes.

The issue is not limited to Dhaka. If anything, it is significantly worse for people travelling outside the city, where most—especially women—tend to refrain from using any restrooms, be it the public toilets or those at fuel stations or rest houses, due to the inherent lack of hygiene control and other necessary amenities.

According to a report of The Daily Star, there are only 103 public toilets across all of Dhaka city—for the use of its more than 20 million people. Out of these 103, many are and have been out of service, many are not used at all, and most are not used by women at all. After a recent renovation drive, a few have been made more accessible (such as the one next to Ananda Cinema Hall in Farmgate, and another in Gulshan)—even to women. But that has not helped rectify the issue at hand.

While writing this article, I reached out to women in my circle who resort to commuting or travelling around the city on a regular basis. Most have told me that they have never used the public restrooms, nor have they considered using it. In case of emergencies, they have made detours to restaurants, malls, or even a friend's place. If none of those worked out, they usually refrain from using the bathroom till they reach their destination.

I went further and asked them if they were aware that delaying the use of restrooms could result in poor bladder health and frequent bouts of urinary tract infections (UTIs). They all said yes. Unfortunately, some of them had already dealt with such infections, but they still choose to wait to reach their destination instead of resorting to a public toilet.

The issue is not just that of hygiene, however. Many women, including myself, do not feel safe visiting such facilities. It's not unlikely for locks or windows to be broken in restrooms, given that the actual toilets and/or the water supply have fallen into disrepair.

Recently, I've come across a few mobile toilets around Dhaka, mostly in north Dhaka, but from what I have observed, they are mostly operated by men, automatically ruling out many women using them due to sheer discomfort.

The lack of hygiene and maintenance, however, is not just limited to the public toilets. It is also the case for most washrooms in general that are used by the masses. Be it washrooms in malls, restaurants, or hospitals, the lack of maintenance and the overall number of washrooms that have fallen to disrepair are staggering.

In the midst of all of this, asking for public toilets and restrooms in public places to accommodate sanitary product vending machines seems like a fool's dream. While some universities and educational institutions have started to implement such services, one would have to be very lucky to come across these in their time of need.

Putting all of this together paints a pretty horrific picture of the public toilet scene for women already. But when it comes to women with disabilities needing access to any such services, this issue becomes one I cannot begin to reckon.

Towards the end of last year, through a series of social media posts, a youth activist and a student of North South University shared her horrendous experience of dealing with classes and Dhaka's traffic without any accessible washrooms nearby. Since then, NSU has developed disability-friendly washrooms, but that is all there has been in terms of that. No other public services have been made available to accommodate the needs of those with disabilities. Even the existing services lack maintenance.

Access to basic sanitation and hygiene products should not be too much to ask for in a country that has introduced an intricate web of infrastructure to improve its urban lifestyle in recent years. Proper funding, planning, and execution could make the experience of using public restrooms a lot more bearable—if not pleasant—for a majority of people constantly on the go.

Syeda Afrin Tarannum is a sub-editor at Campus of The Daily Star.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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