Water and Gendered Vulnerability: Water Collection and Risk

Thorpe, 2017

"For us the act of collecting water poses no risk. We go to the tap and fill our glass. But for many in the developing world, particularly women and girls, such a day-to-day chore can be extremely dangerous".

- Jan Eliasson (former Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations). 

Water collection is much more than walking to get water and coming back again.
In areas with limited water access, issues of privacy and safety are also a major concern. Further to the lost hours and heavy loads discussed in my last blog post, a lack of close and safe water resources, especially in rural Sub-Saraharn Africa, pose a risk to many individuals. In that post I also stated that the average distance traveled for water is 3.7miles/6km and most water collections took over 30 minutes to complete. Women and children, when fetching water from distant sources, can walk long distances on sometimes dangerous paths, by spending so much time away from home, they are exposed to risks (Stevenson et. al, 2012, Winters et. al., 2018). These include an increased risk of tripping or falling, attack by animals, abduction or physical or sexual harassment and attacks, or conflict at water points and while waiting in water queues, as well as the stress and psychological impacts associated afterwards (Sorenson et al., 2011, Yerian et al., 2014, Sommer, 2015, Graham et. al. 2016). In one study, in Sudan in 2005, 82% of rapes occurred while undertaking daily tasks, including collecting water! (Médecins sans Frontières, 2005).

In my second blog post I briefly introduced the idea of water collection as perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage. Disadvantage contributes to vulnerability, because the time and energy used collecting water, as well as the frequency that girls taken out of school for daily tasks, means women are less able to earn an income and become socially confined to the realm of unpaid work. As a result, men dominate paid work and globally resource control tends to lie in the hands of men; it is typical that those actually in charge of water supplies are male (Taylor, 2016). For example, in Tanzania, women and children are almost universally responsible for water collection but in Dar es Salaam water vendors are almost exclusively men (UN-HABITAT, 2006).

Although much of this post focuses on rural examples, that does not mean that in urban contexts people have plentiful water supplies (UNDP 2006). Many urban poor who do not have access to safe potable water in their homes or nearby or even to surface sources so are forced to pay for water from water vendors, especially for drinking. In urban settings women still find themselves in similar situations as those in rural areas travelling to collect water and primarily responsible for the household's water supply as in many cities, especially in informal settlements the problem of water scarcity is to do with unequal distribution rather than physical water scarcity, resulting  (Mudege & Zulu, 2010). Water vendors charging a fee can exploit women and girls collecting water, especially those who cannot afford it, and it is not uncommon for men to coerce women into sexual favours for water (UN-HABITAT, 2006).

As well as the type of water resource they are accessing, where and when women and girls collect water can increase their level of vulnerability. Travelling long distances, having a predictable route or travelling alone all increase the risk of harassment, assault and abduction.
In a recently published study across rural Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, the risks of gendered violence in communities where there is poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities were highlighted. When conducting interviews with many participants from local communities and health services, one participant in a female focus group described how water collection is an opportune time to take advantage of women “especially in peak hours… in the wee hours of the morning and late in the evening… and since it is (a) generally accepted practice of the community, they will be raped” (Pommell et. al, 2018: 1854).

Many of the women in this study stated a full understanding that they are at risk of rape and some male interviewees even discussed this time as an opportunity; Men can monitor the route and times of women and many target young virgin girls in particular: "Some men plan it . . . you monitor it routinely the movement of this lady, what time does she leave to go get water, and if the water source is very far, you can actually do anything to her without anybody coming" (Male focus group) (Pommell et. al, 2018: 1855). 

Despite this understanding, many do not have a choice as in order to return in time to complete all household tasks or get to school, women or girls often begin their travels before sunrise to fetch water (House et. al., 2014). A report from Amnesty International, describes how the longer women and children stay away from the home the more at risk they are from beating/harassment. Yet many women are not able to make the decision to collect water at a safer time. Furthermore, reinforced gender roles leave women and girls more vulnerable within the home also. Tensions can rise over the amount of water and time taken to get it as if household tasks are not fully completed it can cause male partners to feel more justified in domestic violent behaviour against female partners who they see as not adequately providing for the household (Vlassoff, 2007; Winters et. al., 2018). The Amnesty International report noted that in Kenya, up to 2/3 women who were physically or sexually assaulted were abused by husbands or other relatives, especially if they are seen to transcend expected domestic roles. This by no means diminishes the rates of non-partner attack and harassment, especially during water collection; Africa as a continent has some of the highest recorded rates of non-partner sexual violence with a lifetime prevalence of 11·9% (and this is only recorded cases- many occurrences go unreported everyday) (Gonsalves, Kaplan & Paltiel, 2015).

Toonpool, 2010

Sexual harassment, threats and attacks are a common experience of so many women and young girls across the world and especially on their walk for water. The risks of pregnancy, injury and even death, on top of the psychological effects are real and serious. However, sexual harassment has been seen as commonplace for many years. Pommell's article describes how in Uganda young men use water routes to single out women and "engage in culturally accepted sexual rites of passage". Although the interviewees describe this in a generally accepted way, I question the this "cultural acceptance". I understand that certain things can be excused when taking into account cultural relativity and have read reports of girls also using time collecting water to have fun or secretly meet boyfriends; this generalised acceptance still makes me uncomfortable. It is important to recognise that behaviour like this is not solely confined to Africa. The #MeToo movement and recent worldwide campaign against the power dynamics that lead to acts of sexual and gendered violence and harassment being overlooked or 'accepted' as expected modes of behaviour, have not taken hold across the African continent as it has elsewhere.

Risk is not exclusive to the water fetching path and many of these themes reoccur in regards to sanitation, which I will discuss in my next post!


* Edit 04/12/2018: I know this is a heavy post but it is an important issue. I had a friend ask about my claim as to the #MeToo movement, or lack-thereof in Africa. This is understudied and therefore is limited to grey literature but one good example is the BBC video below on West Africa: