OUR GLOBAL
WATER
CRISIS
GENDER INEQUALITY
GENDER INEQUALITY AND WATER
Gender inequality is a large part of the global water crisis. In countries where access to cleanwater is not available, women are not treated as equals to men. They lack access to education, pay and sanitation.
Women are expected to be in charge of all household responsibilities, which include getting water. Many women have to walk about 3.7 miles or more to collect water. They have to carry 40 pounds of water and often a child, making it difficult to walk. Collecting water can take up most of the day for women. When they get back to their families with the water they collected, they have to take care of other household activities such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of children.
Women do not have time to receive an education, since their assigned job is to do housework. Also, even though women are in charge of household water and sanitation, they usually do not get to participate in the management of water sanitation systems.
Although women spend long hours on completeing household responsibilities, they do not receive any pay for the work that they do. In fact, according to water.org, the 200 hours a day spent collecting water around the world is equivalent to building 28 empire state buildings each day.
Women do not have equal access to sanitation. Women often need more private sanitation than men. They often have to use the toilet when it is dark and face the risk of being assaulted, sexually harassed or attacked by an animal. These risks also apply to women when they are walking to collect water. If a young woman receive a chance to get an education, she has to miss school, since she does not have access to women's sanitary supplies.
By giving countries access to clean water, gender inequality will begin to vanish. Women will be able to receive an education and get paid for the same jobs that men do. They can put all the hours that they once spent collecting water on activites that will be more beneficial for them and their communities.
An average distance women and children walk to get water is 6 kilos.
In a day 200 hours are consumed globally by women getting water.
Women are not able to receive an education because their days are spent walking to collect water and doing housework.
Lacking access to clean sanitation, women often wait until it is dark to go to the toilet in private. At night the risk of sexual harrassment, assault and animal attacks is much greater.
Women usually work twice as long as men for no pay.
In many places women do not have land rights and cannot access water for agricultural uses.
Women carry 40 pounds of water on their back or heads, which can cause damage to their neck and spine.
Facts from: Charity Water, water.org and Water for the Ages.
Male and Female Literacy vs. Access to Clean Water
Figure 3: Figure 3 compares the male and female literacy rates to the percent of people without access to clean water in Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, United States and United Kingdom. Somalia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan are all devloping countries. It is evident that the literacy rates for women are much lower than men and the percentage of people who do not have access to clean water is high. This is a trend because women spend all day seeking clean water, or any water at all, preventing them from receiving an education. The United State and United Kingdom are developed countries. The literacy rates of male and females is even. The number of people without access to clean water is 2% in the United States and 0% in the United Kingdom. Women do not have to collect water each day and have time to receive an education.
All numbers and statistics from CIA world factbook.