Indonesia is a developing country with many social inequalities, especially regarding sanitation. Data from the Ministry of Health shows that 28 million Indonesians do not have access to clean water and millions of households still defecate in the open due to lack of clean toilets. Addressing proper sanitation for the Indonesian people became a government concern in 1993 when only 11% of the population had access to adequate sanitation. This is despite the U.N. stating that access to adequate sanitation is a basic human right. Although this has improved over the decades, this issue persists and is more pronounced for women in Indonesia, who face a multitude of problems related to sanitation.

Period Poverty

Period poverty can be defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management and education, affecting many women globally and causing physical, mental and emotional challenges. Women in Indonesia also cannot afford proper menstrual sanitation products such as tampons and sanitary napkins. They only use one pad for one day. Most women depend on their husbands’ salary, which averages less than IDR 2,000,000 to IDR 3,000,000 (approximately $128 to $192).

Only 34% of Girls Receive Menstruation Education

More than 50% of girls in Indonesia do not receive menstruation education from their mothers. Menstruation is considered abnormal and abject, so girls are not able to talk about menstruation when they experience it. The negative stigma attached to menstruation makes menstruation taboo to talk about. About 25% of teenagers in Indonesia “never discussed menstruation before they had their first menstruation” and 17% of them do not know that “menstruation is a sign of puberty.”

Lack of proper education regarding menstrual and reproductive hygiene can lead to unwanted pregnancies and reproductive diseases. Schools often fail to provide education about menstruation and proper reproductive health for girls experiencing puberty, along with adequate facilities for those undergoing menstruation. A recorded 42% of girls do not change sanitary napkins at school due to the lack of cleanliness in school toilets.

Sanitation Has a Significant Impact on Stunting

Many women and girls cannot access proper sanitation at home. Poor maternal health and hygiene have a significant impact on stunting. Data shows that 1 in 3 children in Indonesia experience stunting. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines stunting as “the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.” The impact of stunting does not occur instantly but will have an effect on children’s health and nutrition in the long term.

Poor Sanitation Kills More Women Than HIV and Aids

Poor sanitation is closely related to death. Not washing hands when handling deliveries and after giving birth causes mothers to contract infectious diseases. About 12% of mothers die during childbirth due to infection. Zainal I Nampira, the Head of the Water Health and Basic Sanitation Sub Division of the Directorate of Environment Health at the Ministry of Health, hopes that as access to basic sanitation improves, the maternal mortality rate can be reduced to 24 per 1,000 people.

Looking Ahead

To combat women’s sanitation-related issues in Indonesia, the World Bank, in collaboration with the Indonesian government and other organizations, implemented the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project (PAMSIMAS) in 2008. The program successfully provided access to drinking water to 24.5 million people in 35,928 villages across 408 districts in Indonesia by the end of 2021.

– Afra Amirah
Photo: Flickr