Flush with inequality

I am aware that previously in my blog, I have focused on the experience of cisgender women when examining gender in relation to water and development in Africa. Therefore, for my final blog post, I would like to look at the experience of those within the LGBTQ community, focusing specifically on transgender individuals.

In an article written by Keuroghlian et al. it is stated that 'sexual and gender minority (SGM) people are often stigmatised and mistreated based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression' (2021). SGM individuals experience 'chronic discrimination, victimisation and violence' (ibid). It is for these reasons that it is crucial to spotlight the experience of SGM people when looking at the wider topic of water and development in Africa, because at the moment the hardships faced by these groups are not being heard in discussions of international development. 

Image: Trans Rights are Human Rights

One area where the difference of experience is particularly apparent, is the area of sanitation. As stated by Nigel Patel, 'throughout history, toilet spaces have both reflected and enforced societal assumptions about gender and served as important sites for societal change' (2017). The toilet therefore has the potential to act as an important catalyst for the inclusion of SGM individuals in African societies. Patel focuses on the case study of South Africa, where he argues that the sanitation practices of sex-segregated bathrooms and the Western toilet cistern were 'imposed on indigenous communities through colonisation and apartheid' (ibid). In this way, Patel argues that the sex-segregation of sanitation spaces 'was central to the logic of complete separation of races in all aspects of public and private life' under apartheid (ibid). Considering these connotations, it is no surprise that the implementation and use of these sex-segregated spaces continue to have hugely negative implications for those of the SGM community, and the LGBTQ community more widely. 

Many of the toilet blocks that have been installed in South African townships do not take into account the needs of the individuals that use them. There have been instances of attacks on women who have had to walk long distances to the toilets from their homes, and the spaces rarely cater to those with disabilities, specifically those who use a wheelchair (ibid). At the moment, protests surrounding the low standards of these facilities are largely based around the want to provide safe and accessible sanitation spaces. However, attention needs to be paid specifically to the experience of transgender individuals in order to fully disrupt the colonial system of 'racial and gendered urban planning' that have played a part in South Africa's current sanitation system (ibid). 

The toilets can be gender neutral but beyond that you need to create an inclusive space. It is not enough to just say or label your bathroom as gender neutral (Patel, 2017)

It is imperative that 'for transgender users, public toilets should be places without hostility and risk of violence' (Moreira et al., 2021). Making existing public toilets gender neutral does not tackle the fears of safety and dignity raised by many currently using these facilities, especially due to the existence of gender-specific features such as urinals. Instead, Moreira et al. suggest that the best design would consist of individual cubicles containing a toilet and washbasin (toilet here being used not only to refer to the Western idea of what a toilet should look like) (ibid). This would constitute a small step in combatting the discrimination of transgender individuals, and would create inclusive spaces where everyone, regardless of gender, could feel safe. 

I acknowledge that this is only a very small amendment and that there are plenty more steps to creating societies that are completely inclusive of those within the LGBTQ community. There could be an entire blog series focussed on just this topic, and with everything I have written about throughout this blog series, it is impossible to reach anything below surface level in such a short post and of course it is not only the area of sanitation where the experiences of members of the LGBTQ community are underrepresented in development. It is crucial that all development goals are made wholly inclusive in order to be most effective. This doesn't only happen through top-down policy, but needs to be implemented on a local scale too, most effectively within the classroom through education. There is an urgent call to dismantle the taboo of difference and to create a global culture of acceptance and inclusivity, which begins through objects as unremarkable as the toilet.