Challenges and Concerns for Toilets Access among Adolescent Girls in an Urban Slum –A Viewpoint -

Indian cities are experiencing rapid population growth and expansion of urban poor. Many of these people live in informal settlements which are areas of high density, poor qual-ity housing-the ‘poverty pockets’ with inadequate provision of basic water and sanitation services. Sani-tation in slums poses the dual risk of increased disease incidence, on one hand, and it raises the issue of personal safety, security, and digni-ty of women and girls on the other hand. A community toilets (CT) fa-cility is a shared facility provided for a defined group of residents or an entire settlement/community. Women, despite having a high de-mand for safe toilet facilities, con-tinue to practice unsafe sanitation. In response to the shame and fear associated with open defecations, women restrict their mobility. To ensure safe, accessible and long-term usability of community toilets, it is critical to select the most ap-propriate location and community toilet design