Lack of Toilets and Violence against Indian Women: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications

It is now well-accepted among policy makers that the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene is a basic human right. Yet, millions of people lack access to basic toilet facilities, which anecdotal evidence suggests may increase violence against women. We examine the relationship between the lack of toilet facilities in the Indian household on non-family violence (i.e. not family member) against Indian women. Using the latest 2005-2006 National Family Health Surveys (NFHS-3) data, we relate the lack of toilet facilities in Indian households (when members use bush or pit latrines to relieve themselves) to non-family violence against Indian women. Multilevel logistic regression results, using data from 60,847 Indian women, indicate that after controlling for economic prosperity and other covariates, lack of toilet facilities in the household is positively related to non-family violence against urban Indian women but not for rural Indian women. Further, this relationship is stronger for poor urban women. Additional analysis indicate that the findings are robust. The paper’s insights indicate that the lack of toilet facilities in households is a source of violence against urban Indian women. We offer policy recommendations to reduce non-family violence against urban Indian women.