An exploratory study on shared sanitation and equity in peri-urban India

TL;DR

This study explores how shared sanitation facilities in peri-urban India help provide equal access to sanitation for people who cannot afford home toilets.

Contribution

The study contributes new insights into how shared sanitation can complement household toilets in achieving universal sanitation access.

Findings

Clean shared sanitation facilities are used by people with and without home toilets.

People often lack usable toilets when outside for work or school.

Shared facilities are essential complements to household toilets for universal access.

Abstract

Shared sanitation facilities are critical for universal access to sanitation. This exploratory study examines the role that free shared sanitation facilities play in equalizing sanitation access in peri-urban India, where, despite extensive state-led efforts towards universal access, household toilets remain infeasible for the country’s poorest citizens. We conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 39 shared sanitation facility users in two peri-urban communities in Jharkhand, India. Participants were recruited after they used the sanitation facility. Data were analyzed using both deductive and inductive coding and thematic analysis. We found that clean and safe community sanitation facilities were used by people when at home, and were used both by those with and without a home toilet. We also found (consistent with previous work) that when people were outside of the home for work, school, and errands, they often needed but did not have access to usable toilets. These findings suggest why, and under what conditions, shared sanitation facilities are essential to realizing the human right to sanitation. Shared facilities are complements to, and not substitutes for, household facilities. Global sanitation targets, therefore, should be modified to reflect the role of well-maintained shared sanitation in meeting the goal of universal access.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-40069-6.