User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in Chile

Public toilets in Chile are often hard to find, a situation made more complicated by the fact parts of the country lack access to basic sanitation. Since the 2000s, all new construction of public buildings required they have wheelchair accessible toilets.

Public toilets
Public toilets often do not provide toilet paper. The most common type of toilet is a sit toilet. Public pay toilets are common, with the typical charge being around 450 pesos.

In some very rural agricultural areas in Chile, makeshift toilets are created in fields. They are pit toilets with material for the walls.

Puente Alto has a program called RedActiva. This program allows senior citizens to access toilets in participating local shops and businesses. The program was created as a way of trying to make the community more welcoming to older residents.

In the early 2000s, it was very rare for public toilets to have wheelchair access anywhere in South America. The few that were available tended to be at upscale shopping centers. The law was changed in the early 2000s in Chile. It required all new public buildings to be wheelchair accessible. This included having wheelchair accessible toilets.

Regional and global situation impacting public toilets in Chile
Baño is the most common way to say toilet in Spanish speaking countries. Other words for toilet include aseo, váter, retrete, servicio, lavabo, sanitarios, regadera, bidé, tina, lavamanos and orinal. Men's toilets are called hombres, while women's toilets are called mujeres. Unisex toilets are called baño unisex. Toilet paper is called papel higiénico.

Public toilet access around the world is most acute in the Global South, with around 3.6 billion people, 40% of the world's total population, lacking access to any toilet facilities. 2.3 people in the the Global South do not have toilet facilities in their residence. Despite the fact that the United Nation made a declaration in 2010 that clean water and sanitation is a human right, little has been done in many places towards addressing this on a wider level.

Sit flush toilets are the most common type of toilet in Latin America and South America. Most countries in Latin and South America do not have the sanitation infrastructure to support toilet paper being flushed. Trash cans are typically put next to the toilet to allow for easy disposal of toilet paper.