Think of the last time you went to the movies, a sporting venue, or any public place, and had to use a restroom. Did you notice that the queues for the women’s restroom were generally longer than the men’s?

Most building codes provide for equal toilet areas for both men and women – in which case the men get more urinals in the same amount of space as the women - or for an equal number of toilets. However, because women take longer to use the restrooms for various reasons, including attending to menstrual hygiene, the speed of access to these spaces is anything but equal.

Now imagine the difficulties of adolescent girls and women with low access to water supply and sanitation who face additional disadvantages because of their ethnicity or economic class.

To ensure that the Sri Lanka Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement Project (WASSIP) was inclusive, we listened to the voices of diverse women, especially those in the estate sector where poverty rates are high and access to water supply and sanitation is low.

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