Paper short abstract:

The sanitation crisis in unregulated informal settlements in Mwanza are compounded by statutory provisions & social norms. This presentation examines how regulatory frameworks impact local communities undermining just sanitation. Participatory/contextual adaption of regulatory framework is critical.

Paper long abstract:

The challenges associated with the sanitation crisis in the rapidly urbanizing and unregulated informal settlements of Sub-Saharan African cities are compounded by sanitation taboos, which are deeply gendered and remain unexplored. Focusing on a qualitative study of Mwanza city in Tanzania, this presentation examines how gendered sanitation taboos impact differently on women and men, girls and boys, affecting in turn their pathways to just sanitation. The sanitation taboos explored refer to human waste and hygiene issues that are generally publicly avoided or unspoken to avoid embarrassment.

The manifestation of sanitation taboos in Mwanza include: Discomfort among women to be seen by men when they use communal toilets; reluctance among elderly men to use off-site sanitation facilities on account of not knowing what will happen to their excreta; social cultural norms and values which restrain men from direct engagement with their daughters about sanitation and hygiene matters; or taking responsibilities or matters of cleaning of sanitation facilities.

The paper concludes that just sanitation requires gendered interventions that addresses social cultural norms and taboos at households and community levels. Besides, there is a need to advance the current debate among academia, practitioners, policy makers and wider communities on matters that encircle sanitation, social cultural norms, discriminatory values and taboos.