By Jasmine Couchman –
1 in 3 people still lack access to safe drinking water worldwide [1]. Water is fundamental to the function of humanity as deh
ydration is significantly more instantaneous than starvation [2]. While you and I likely just turn the tap on, without a second thought, this insecurity, predominantly in less economically developed countries, has proven to be a challenge that commonly falls onto women. The research carried out by Aggarwal and Punhani in 2015 [3] is an example of how gender plays a core role in obtaining and supplying water in the poorer regions of our world. This research project was centred in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of the capital of India, Delhi where on a total population-scale 1/5 of people live in slums [3].
Figure 1: A problem spanning the decades – women and children surround a tap in an Indian slum in the 1980s. Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Water shortages
Water shortages occur in this region due to low levels of rainfall alongside a shortage of groundwater and surface water resources. This will be further enhanced and impacted by climate change, due to the vulnerability of freshwater [6]. However, in this location currently, the issue is not access to water, as of the surveyed households, 97% had access to a supply. The problem is quantity because many households use the same source, and this is combined with an intermittent water supply and short periods when the supply is active [3]. The matter of affordability arises as in many locations, including this one, people rely on private water vendors when the public water supply is limited. Research has shown this to be more expensive by up to 50 times [5]. It has been found that women often budget their families’ finances and pay for resources such as water. This contrasts with men who tend to spend more money on themselves through pursuits of pleasure, for example, drinking and gambling [2].
The role of women
You now might be questioning the relevance of gender regarding this. In answer to this enquiry, it comes down to the role of women in society in such locations and the inequalities they face. Water collection alongside other household tasks is their societal role – generally, men go out to work to provide economically and women maintain the home [3].
The need for structural change
78% of the women in the researched slums were illiterate [3]. For personal development to occur in such regions there is a need for adequate water supply. Due to a focus on the provision of the basics, the value of education, development of skills and a potential to generate income are waylaid as women are focused on fulfilling their societal gender roles. This inequality can be seen for the whole of India as it is ranked at 140 of 156 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index 2021 [4]. Improved provision of water would close a gap and allow time and effort to be focused on other issues in poor societies within India. This is increasingly necessary with greater pressures from climatic change, population growth and development.
References and further reading
[1] World Health Organization (2019) 1 in 3 people globally do not have access to safe drinking water – UNICEF, WHO. New York, Geneva: World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/news/item/18-06-2019-1-in-3-people-globally-do-not-have-access-to-safe-drinking-water-unicef-who [28.11.2021].
[2] Sarkar, A. (2020) Everyday practices of poor urban women to access water: Lived realities from a Nairobi slum. African Studies (Johannesburg) 79(2), 212-231. 10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594
[3] Kher, J., Aggarwal, S. & Punhani, G. (2015) Vulnerability of Poor Urban Women to Climate-linked Water Insecurities at the Household Level: A Case Study of Slums in Delhi. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 22(1),15–40. 10.1177/0971521514556943
[4] World Economic Forum (2021) Global Gender Gap Report 2021. Gineva: World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2021 [28.11.2021].
[5] MItlin, D., Beard, V.A., Satterthwaite, D & Du, J. (2019) Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water Access in the Global South. Working Paper. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/research/unaffordable-and-undrinkable-rethinking-urban-water-access-global-south [28.11.2021].
[6] Bates, B., Kundzewicz, Z. and Wu, S. (2008) Climate change and water. Technical Paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Gineva: IPCC Secretariat. http://www.taccire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/552[28.11.2021].