Women in total sanitation campaign: a case study from Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, India.

In India, women became a part of decision-making processes in village-level sanitation meetings, water user committees, and other sanitation projects, and men believed women could speak up in meetings and expressed happiness that they could make joint decisions.

“In India, women became a part of decision-making processes in village-level sanitation meetings, [139] water user committees, [89] and other sanitation projects, [127] and men believed women could speak up in meetings and expressed happiness that they could make joint decisions [145].”

WASH programs have increased trust, acceptance, and respect for women as community decision-makers, increased women's roles in household decision-making, and improved women's reported ability to express themselves.

“WASH programs have increased trust, acceptance, and respect for women as community decision-makers (India [129] and Sri Lanka [56]), increased women's roles in household decision-making (India [139] and Vietnam [58]), and improved women's reported ability to express themselves (Costa Rica [63]).”

General safety concerns were widely noted, including feeling unsafe collecting water or using sanitation facilities at night, and when toilets lack doors, locks, lighting, or are far; safety issues were particularly intense for adolescent girls, young women, and minorities.

“General safety concerns were widely noted, [100, 119, 123, 139, 143, 147, 171, 177, 182, 186, 188, 191, 201, 202, 223, 226-229, 233, 238, 240, 241, 251, 255, 257] including feeling unsafe collecting water, [100, 119, 177] or using sanitation facilities at night, [168, 171, 190, 229, 255-257] and when toilets lack doors, locks, lighting, or are far [171, 190, 214, 223, 239-241, 252, 255].Safety”

Improved self-confidence, including willingness to speak up, was reported regarding women's participation in WASH programs and campaigns in India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam; women in India reported improvements in self-confidence, dignity, and work and life circumstances due to improvements in water supply; and in Indonesia, some women reported feeling confident to challenge traditional gender roles

“Improved self-confidence, including willingness to speak up, was reported regarding women's participation in WASH programs and campaigns in India, [89,139,145] Sri Lanka, [56] and Vietnam [58].Women in India reported improvements in self-confidence, dignity, and work and life circumstances due to improvements in water supply [129,279].In Indonesia, some women reported feeling confident to”

Sanitation facilities often enable privacy, though privacy can be challenging to obtain for those without sanitation facilities and for some using household or shared facilities; in India, women with latrines reported a greater sense of privacy, and adolescent girls and women found latrines useful for privacy during menstruation and defecation.

“Sanitation facilities often enable privacy, though privacy can be challenging to obtain for those without sanitation facilities and for some using household or shared facilities.In India, women with latrines reported a greater sense of privacy, [139] and adolescent girls and women found latrines particularly useful for maintaining privacy during menstruation and defecation, especially during the”

Women Sanitary Complexes in India were reportedly not maintained according to guidelines due to disagreements over responsibility.

“Women Sanitary Complexes in India were reportedly not maintained according to guidelines due to disagreements over responsibility [139].”