The weight of the world on their backs

Why does water collection labour require gender and child-centred perspective? 

Women and children bear the brunt of water labour. A study of six rural communities in South Africa shows that 56% of women and 31% of young girls carried the burden of collecting water compared to only 10% of young boys and 3% of men. The most significant factor influencing the role of a child's contribution to water collection is their gender. Children typically leave school early to look after younger siblings while the mothers collect water, alternatively, they leave school to collect water themselves. This impacts their studies significantly as they are left fatigued and many reported difficulties concentrating at school. Women often experience conflict at water points, which commonly results in physical or sexual assault - the perceived fear of assault alone demonstrates the urgency of safer ways to have access to water.

Health risks associated with water collection 

In sub-Saharan Africa, 37% of rural populations and 14% of urban populations have access to safe drinking water sources, which are 30 minutes away. In some countries, including Somalia, Mauritania and Tunisia, a single trip to a water collection point takes longer than an hour. The World Health Organisation recommends 20-50 litres of water consumption per person per day. This is the equivalent of 44-110 pounds of water that has to be carried for each member of the household (although it is unlikely that most communities in Africa, especially rural Africa, have the means to consume the suggested volume of water). On average, women travel 6km every day to collect water. Carrying such heavy loads of water for lengthy durations every day is damaging to human health. Water collection labour is associated with health issues such as fatigue, early degenerative bone and soft tissue damage, musculoskeletal damage and 69% of those who engage in water collection reported experiencing spinal pain. The fatigue that also comes with water collection labour means that many women do not have enough time or the mental capacity to carry out paid work. The UN state that more than 3 billion people experience health risks associated with the discharge of untreated sewage into water sources, causing more than 2.2 million deaths annually. WaterAid suggests that girls and women are twice as likely to be affected by these diseases. Furthermore, when family members and children suffer the health consequences of poor water quality, it is culturally the woman's duty to care for them. 

What development goals don't show 

In 2012, the world met the Millenium Development Goal target 7c, which was to half the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water, and the UN states proudly that this was achieved five years ahead of schedule. People are increasingly drinking water from protected and safe sources, e.g. boreholes and piped water. Evidence shows that these protected sources of water provide improved water quality and are also associated with reduced child morbidity. However, other research contradicts this finding and shows that by the time water is drunk, the process of collecting, storing and transporting water increases the risk of it being faceally contaminated. This is associated with diarrhoeal disease, which is the fourth leading cause of death among children under 5 alongside chronic malnutrition and stunting. Every day more than 1600 children under the age of 5 die of diarrhoeal disease, more than AIDS and malaria combined. It is recommended that water collection times should be a key factor for measuring development progress in regard to water. It is crucial that we aim for more local and accessible water collection points, or rather piped water access in every home - the health risks that water collection labour pose and opportunities that women and children have to sacrifice are too severe. 


The short video linked below demonstrates the hardship children face when fetching water. In this video, Violet, a young girl from Zambia, reminisces her love for education and her dream to become a doctor, while on a walk to get water. She travels two miles every day, twice a day, to get water for her household. This video depicts the dangerous reality of the lack of safe and accessible water. 



Concluding thoughts 
Having closer water collection points and safe drinking water will drastically reduce the time women and children spend fetching water. It'll enable children, especially girls, to prosper at school and it will allow women to realise their economic potential. The next blog will explore the role of decision making on women and girls' development. 

Comments

  1. Wiktoria4 November 2021 at 08:14

    Interesting post Arzoo! Water collection is a huge burden that women and children face. How do you think cultural norms tie into this topic? Looking forward to your response !!

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    Replies
    1. Arzoo4 November 2021 at 08:38

      Thank you for your comment! Cultural norms a woman's role versus a man's role definitely plays a massive role on water collection. In almost every society, whether modern or traditional, women are prescribed domesticated roles whereas men are the breadwinners. Both girls and boys participate in water collection labour from a young age, however, from a certain age, it stops being a task for boys to consider as they have the luxury of pursuing economic opportunities. However, girls are ultimately burdened with the time-consuming role of water collection for the rest of their lives because it is not considered their responsibility to make money.

      Delete
    2. Chloe5 November 2021 at 08:08

      What a great read Arzoo! I particularly enjoyed the section on what development goals don't show. It is often the case where we place so much focus on what development goals can do and show, but rarely consider their downfalls. Do you think the development goals and their downfall could possibly link to your next topic entry (decision making)?

      Delete
    3. Arzoo9 November 2021 at 08:01

      Development goals (broadly speaking) are too vague. It is often the case that when considering female participation, development indicators will compare female participation from previous years, instead of looking at rural women's participation, or even poor urban women's participation. I think the main issue with women in decision making is that they simply cannot when they spend too many hours of the day fulfilling their gender roles, in turn they don't have the time for these 'extracurricular' activities. Hope this answered your question and thank you for the comment!

      Delete
  2. Clement21 November 2021 at 17:58

    Another good attempt at exploring challenges of access to water and the dilemma water collection, it is well presented and references are embeded. However, this quote from Graham et al, 2016 needed to be properly references "In 2012, the world met the Millenium Development Goal target 7c" which was to half the proportion of people without access to improved sources of water, and the UN states proudly that this was achieved five years ahead of schedule.

    I would like to learn more about a specific case study country or locale where access to water from groundwater, rivers or rainfall constitute a unique challenge to women but also
    reinforce existing structures of inequality.

    ReplyDelete

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