Poor Sanitation and Vulnerability of Women: A Geographical study of slums in Varanasi City

Abstract

Poor sanitation is an issue that can affect everyone but women are often the most at the
risk. A lack of access to a clean, safe toilet can impact girl’s attendance at school, increase
women’s burden of work and leave females at risk of sanitation-borne diseases. The aim of
this paper is highlighting the socio-economic condition and linkages between poor sanitation
and vulnerability of women in slums of Varanasi city. Based on primary and secondary data
150 households was randomly selected and 30 Households have been served from each
sample slum through questionnaire for the analysis. Survey on women resulted that due to
unimproved facilities and poor sanitation they suffered with diseases such as diarrhoea,
urinary tract infections, skin disorders, respiratory diseases etc while those who have
availability of improve toilets and adequate water supply within premise they suffered less.
There is an urgency to tackle this situation for long term development as well as for city and
National prosperity