CHENNAI: Lakshmi*, a national-level athlete with spinal cord injury has learned that the only way she can be out of her house for long hours is to limit her fluid intake. “Most women with disabilities have to plan before they travel. A majority don’t drink water. We sip small amounts of liquid once every few hours,” she says. Despite being a sports athlete, her travel course depends on the toilet provision. “Standard disability friendly toilets need to have a ramp, wheelchair access, grab bars/rails. But, I haven’t come across a single toilet that has these basic provisions,” she says.
According to a handbook on ‘Accessible Household Sanitation for Persons with Disabilities’, released by Swachh Bharat Mission, the dos and don’ts are as follows: ‘Provide an access ramp that is firm and wide enough, landings should have area to permit wheelchair to turn, doors to sanitation facilities should be wide and open outwards, slopes should be as per norms, water supply in the toilet must be accessible to the visually and ambulant disabled, tactile cues are necessary on the railing outside and support bars inside the toilet…’
Inaccessible toilet and water facilities are major contributing factors for school dropouts among girls. “I know women with disabilities who decided to not go to work, and girls who discontinued studies because of a chronic shortage of accessible toilets,” she rues. For women who are wheelchair users, toilets that incorporate a western-toilet model are ideal, but a large percentage of toilets are Indian style.
CE visited the city Corporation’s night shelter in Kamdar Nagar. Mathilda (42) and Mary (33), affected by polio, took to playing wheelchair basketball a couple of years ago. However, travelling hasn’t been easy. “Railway stations don’t have accessible toilets.
Even if they do, abled people use them. Every time we travel, we look for places that have provisions for us. Otherwise, we have to use adult diapers,” says Mathilda. The shelter buys adult diapers for the duo. Adult diapers cost from 100 and above. For women who come from an underprivileged background, not having accessible public toilets, not only restricts their access to public spaces but also takes a toll on their mental state.
Ezhilarasi, another resident of the shelter, is visually impaired and the 20-something student says, “I control the urge to relieve myself if I am out. There are no guideposts, tactile cues or railings. It could be quite unsafe.” Forcing their bladder to work a certain way, even during menstruation cycle has taken a toll on their health. From contracting urinary tract infections to several women suffering from kidney stones, lack of accessible toilets has become a major worry. The concerns have gone unheard. In 2016, a poll booth access audit report by Vidya Sagar’s Disability Legislation Unit South of about 172 booths in Chennai showed that only 18 per cent booths had accessible toilets. “Even though elections are conducted by the government, there are no provisions to accessible toilets,” says a disability rights activist.
Meenakshi Balasubramanian of Equals, a city-based organisation that works for the rights of PwDs says that several women with disabilities, despite not having physical incontinence remain in a state of anxiety. “I have kidney stones, but I don’t drink water when I am out. I haven’t had good experiences even in big hotels as floors are slippery.”
‘Social incontinence’ is often seen as the individual’s inability to control the bladder which is not the case. “There’s already a lot of stigma attached with PwDs. If there’s an ‘accident’, it becomes another social stigma,” she states. A male differently abled activist who uses a wheelchair said that he urinates in a bottle when there are no standard toilets around. “Women don’t have any workable alternative,” says Sharon*, a 30-year-old with multiple sclerosis. (*Name changed on request)
Mission for a clean Tamil Nadu
The 2017-2018 budget, Mission for Clean Tamil Nadu shows that a sum of 600 crore has been allocated for the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (Urban).
Individual toilets
The Government has assessed that 4.37 lakh individual toilets will have to be provided in town Panchayats, Municipalities and Corporations in the State. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), 1.56 lakh individual toilets in 2016-2017 and 2.27 lakh toilets in 2017-2018 have been constructed, and another 54,278 toilets are under construction. The Government of India has so far declared 11 Corporations, 93 Municipalities and 60 town Panchayats as Open Defecation Free in Tamil Nadu. Their target was to build 4.37 lakh toilets by October 2018. An allocation of 550 crore has been provided under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) in the 2018-19 Budget Estimates.