Gender role in water management for sanitation and hygiene in the salinity-prone coastal region of Bangladesh

The management of sanitation andhygiene water at the household level becomes more difficult owing to anincrease in salinity. Traditionally, women are primarily responsible for themanagement of household water. Manyinitiatives have been undertaken to ensure safe potable water, but water forsanitation and hygiene is still beyond the scope of these programs. This research aimed to study gender roles inthe management of sanitation and hygiene water in the backdrop of an increasingtrend of water salinity in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. Threesalinity-prone villages of Dacope Upazila from Khulna district were the studyarea. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used inthis study. This study reveals that traditional gender roles remain unchanged,and the involvement of females is more than 15 times higher than males. Womenprovide a significant amount of time and labor to collect water. Females arefacing more social consequences than males due to their greater involvement in arrangingwater. Moreover, the increased salinity of water used for sanitation andhygiene causes several health problems, particularly in women than in men. Thissector requires attention to end the suffering of women in these areas.