On why I decided to do the project on Public Toilets from a Gender Perspective.

Hi! This is Shahana. I have just taken my second year Economics Hons. exams. I am studying at Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi.
I am doing one project on "Public Toilets in Delhi from a Gender Perspective- with an emphasis on 'facilities' in the slum/resettlement colonies".
The following is a little on why I decided to do this project. I hope it is interesting to read!

People often call me a feminist, I wonder why, because I am not very expressive about women’s issues, it is probably because I study at a "well known" girls’ college in Delhi which is often labeled as a feminist institution. I always wonder, what exactly does feminism mean (and further whether an institution can really be labeled as “feminist”)
The idea of the paper on “Public Toilets in Delhi from a Gender Perspective – with an emphasis on the ‘facilities’ for women in slum areas of Delhi” came up rather vividly. During our first few days with CCS, we “had to” come up with our topics for research. I could not think of what area to pick up which would require some interesting primary research. I was on my way back home from CCS, traveling in a bus on the Yusuf Sarai road and was looking out of the window. When an MCD public toilet caught my attention, it was one of those with old white tiles (many of them were broken!), it was divided into two equal sized cubicles. Though it had not rained that day, I observed that the toilet was full of filthy, mud-coloured water (the height of the water was probably one foot) A man was peeing just outside the toilet. And there was a woman – old, frail, she looked like a beggar; who had a ‘seek ki jharoo’ in her hand and was desperately trying to clean the toilet. What an irony I thought – “She’s cleaning the toilet for men who can anyways pee anywhere they like" (I must make it clear here that the width of the cubicles was only enough to stand and pee - clearly not-at-all female friendly) And further "She can't even use this toilet. What does she go when she wants to relieve herself?" Further down the same road, I saw one of the new, red-brick wall toilet ("jan suvidhaayein" / public convenience - it says).
A typical paid toilet which has a red brick wall charges Rs. 2 per usage of the toilet by a female and Re. 1 per usage by a male (both these for just peeing). However, men can pee virtually anywhere but women CANNOT! It is absolutely essential for them to use a closed area to urinate so they would definetely use a public toilet IF AVAILABLE CLOSE BY TO THEM! But a man has options! A woman, therefore will use and so will have to pay. What a contradiction - "public convenience" for a profit motive!
The issue of public toilets effects, I believe, the poorest women (who live in slum areas) the most. Other women (and of course all men) have options at their homes, workplace (and walls?!) but what about a woman in a slum area?
Further, I wonder; should I be branded as a 'feminist' because I believe that something as basic as a toilet NEEDS to be provided especially to those women in our society who are economically backward?
It is ironical that in Delhi where both, the Chief Minister and the Mayor are 'highly qualified' women who talk about women's empowerment.
And is the issue of public toilets for women isolated? No, there are issue of communicable diseases (one well knows that women are far more vulnerable to UTIs, RTIs and STIs), sexual harassment (women in slum areas, typically tend to relieve themselves at late hours of night or early hours of morning - which makes them all-the-more vulnerable to rape, molestation etc.). "Holding on" for most of the day in a tough task and must be very tough during menstruation.
So, why do we not discuss this issue of public toilets for women? Why are fancy malls (I am not denying that there are toilets in these malls where people like you and me can pee) far more important to us than the basic necessity of public toilets? Is there a policy issue involved? Lastly, we talk alot about "women's empowerment" and "feminism" (I think everyone has their own definition for these two terms!) but what is the worth of all this talk if you can't even provide basic sanitation facilities for the poorest of poor women?
Ok... so that's it!
ALL THE BEST to everyone!
-Shahana.