User:Cmoliva14/WASH

Violence against women
Women and girls usually bear the responsibility for collecting water, which is often very time-consuming and arduous, and can also be dangerous for them. Women and girls who collect water may also face physical assault and sexual assault along the way (violence against women). This includes vulnerability to rape when collecting water from distant areas, domestic violence over the amount of water collected, and fights over scarce water supply. A study in India, for example, found that women felt intense fear of sexual violence when accessing water and sanitation services. A similar study in Uganda also found that women reported to feel a danger for their security whilst journeying to toilets particularly at night.

Increase Vulnerabilities Women Face

 * 1) In addition to the violence women face when allocating water and WaSH facilities, women will face a higher risk of diseases and illness due to limited WaSH access.  Pregnant women face severe hardship walking to and from a water site when carrying a child; this results in the fetus likely being born with congenital disabilities and causing harm to the mother. The consumption of unclean water leading to infection in the fetus accounts for 15% of deaths for women during pregnancy globally.  Illnesses and diseases that come from periods of menstruation  are heighten when clean water an toilets are unavailable. In Bangladesh and India, women rely on old cloths to absorb menstrual blood and use clean water to clean and reuse them. Without water, women in Bangladesh have voiced they had contracted health problems such as vaginal scabies and abnormal discharge in moments where WaSH was challenging to find.