Toilet Poverty and Its Impact

The term toilet poverty might be new and disconcerting to you, but the impact of this reality needs to be understood in the larger context of sanitation poverty. Sanitation poverty is when a person does not have access to a bathroom with proper waste management, leading to health conditions and possible illness.

We generally aren’t comfortable talking about a subject like this one because we understand it to be a private matter that is taken care of out of sight. In developed countries, we know our waste is taken away from our homes and dealt with safely. It all happens quickly, privately and in a healthy manner. However, this uncomfortable the side of poverty is a reality that needs to be addressed.

UNICEF reports, “Among the 1.7 billion people without basic sanitation services in 2020, nearly a third (494 million) used no form of toilet and practised open defecation. In 55 countries, more than 5 percent of the population practised open defecation in 2020. Open defecation is most widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, but is also high in Central and Southern Asia as well as Oceania.”[1]

Though billions of people gained access to proper, safe sanitation services between 2000 and 2020, there are still millions who bare the shame of having no private, safe bathroom. The World Bank states, “Recent analysis shows that ending open defecation can save children’s lives by reducing disease transmission, stunting, and under-nutrition, which are important for childhood cognitive development and future economic productivity. Without adequate sanitation facilities, girls are more likely to drop out of school or are vulnerable to attacks while seeking privacy.”[2]

This kind of hygiene poverty is heartbreaking when you think of girls who try to maintain their modesty and privacy but are subjected to the shame and danger of not having a bathroom. Toilet poverty affects the individual, the village, a country and the world.

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