United in Service: Women Sanitation Workers' Collective Impact

Women sanitation workers in India are not a homogeneous group. They belong to different regions, religions, castes and backgrounds. They perform different types of sanitation work, such as cleaning the streets, solid waste management, community toilet management and faecal sludge management. They work in different settings, such as urban slums, rural villages, schools, hospitals and public places. They have different levels of education, skills and experience.

According to a recent report, there are an estimated 5 million sanitation workers in India, out of which more than 50% are women. However, these numbers are likely to be an underestimation, as many women sanitation workers are invisible and unaccounted for in official statistics. Moreover, women sanitation workers face multiple forms of discrimination and exclusion based on their gender, caste, class and occupation. They are often subjected to stigma, harassment, violence, low wages, poor working conditions, lack of social security and legal protection.

Support Networks and Solidarity

However, despite their diversity, these women share a common vision: to improve their lives and the lives of their fellow workers and communities. To achieve this vision, they have formed various forms of collective action, such as self-help groups (SHGs), cooperatives, unions and networks. These collectives provide them with a platform to voice their concerns, demand their rights, access resources and opportunities, and support each other.

Despite these hardships, women sanitation workers have shown remarkable resilience and courage in their work. They have also formed collective platforms to raise their voice and demand their rights. For example: 

• The Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan (RGA), a national campaign that works to end sanitation work by hand, and rehabilitation of the sanitation workers involved in such work. The RGA has mobilised thousands of women sanitation workers across 18 states to renounce the practice of cleaning by hand. The RGA also provides them with legal aid, skill training, education, health care and social security.
• The All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM), a network of Dalit women activists that works to end caste-based violence and discrimination against Dalit women. The AIDMAM has supported hundreds of women sanitation workers who have faced atrocities such as rape, murder and harassment by upper-caste men. The AIDMAM also campaigns for the implementation of laws and policies that protect the rights of Dalit women.
• The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union that represents over 1.5 million informal sector workers in India. SEWA has organised thousands of women waste pickers into cooperatives that provide them with better income, social security and recognition. SEWA also helps them access credit, insurance, health care and education.
• The Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), a civil society organisation that works to strengthen democracy and governance. PRIA has facilitated the formation of city-level networks of women sanitation workers who engage with local governments and stakeholders to improve their working conditions and service delivery. PRIA also conducts research and advocacy on the issues and challenges faced by women sanitation workers.

Transforming Sanitation Practices

These collective platforms have enabled women sanitation workers to access information, education, skills, resources and opportunities. They have also empowered them to challenge the social norms and structures that oppress them. They have brought about positive changes in their lives and livelihoods, as well as in the sanitation sector and society at large. Some of the achievements of these collective platforms include:

• The enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, which bans the practice of cleaning by hand, and provides for the identification, release and rehabilitation of sanitation workers involved in this practice. 
• The recognition of waste pickers as essential service providers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the provision of protective equipment, food kits and financial assistance to them by various state governments.
• The inclusion of women sanitation workers in various schemes and programs related to sanitation, such as the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
• The formation of cooperatives and enterprises by women sanitation workers to improve their income generation and service delivery.
• The creation of awareness and behaviour change among communities and stakeholders on the importance of sanitation and the rights and dignity of women sanitation workers.

Despite the excellent work these organisations do, they are often strapped for cash. This is where India’s corporates can play an important role. 

Going Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 

CSR initiatives in this space often collaborate with NGOs and government agencies to create sustainable models for women sanitation workers’ empowerment. These initiatives encompass financial support, skill development, and awareness campaigns. 

As India’s leading brand in the lavatory care segment, Harpic has a deep and nuanced understanding of the challenges that women sanitation workers face. It channelled this understanding into the creation of Harpic World Toilet College (HWTC) in 2016. 

HWTC was established with the stated objective of improving the quality of life of sanitation workers through their rehabilitation by linking them with dignified livelihood options. Workers trained by the college are provided placement with various organisations. Following the successful proof of concept in Rishikesh, HWTCs have opened in Maharashtra, Aurangabad, in partnership with Harpic, Jagran Pehel and Maharashtra Government. 

For Harpic, the work that began with HWTC took on more breadth with Mission Swachhta aur Paani. Harpic joined hands with News18 in Mission Swachhta aur Paani, a movement that champions the cause of inclusive sanitation, equality for all genders, abilities, castes and classes and the strong belief that clean toilets are a shared responsibility. 

For 3 years now, Mission Swachhta aur Paani has brought together the right stakeholders on a common platform, so that issues of importance can be discussed, and solutions found. These stakeholders include govt officials, municipalities, NGOs, activists, grassroots organisations and of course, sanitation workers. 

Mission Swachhta aur Paani also functions as a repository for information on a vast variety of topics surrounding toilet access, toilet hygiene, and both the work sanitation workers do, and the challenges they face. 

There are many Indias in one. There is the one in which we live – in our apartments, our corporate offices, our private cars; insulated from the experiences of the vast number of people that it takes to make our lives of privilege possible. That’s the nature of privilege – those of us who have it, seldom recognise it. 

But it is time we did so. Our conversations matter, as do the causes we choose to support. It doesn’t take much (or any!) of our time, or money to do so. 

Join us here, and be a part of this national transformation.