For some privileged Nigerians, access to toilet facilities is not a big deal. But for millions of Nigerians, toilet access is a luxury. For these Nigerians, each time nature calls, it comes with fear spanning from being attacked or exposed to dangerous animals or snakes or diseases.
Today, these fears are real, particularly, for women and girls who are daily exposed to sexual assaults in the bush.
Water Sanitation and Hygiene facilities undoubtedly, are about the basic dignity and safety of women and girls.
The burden of open defecation is widespread in Nigeria with statistics showing that 48 million people are defecating in the open. Many communities do not have decent toilets and residents including women use the bush.
Apart from being raped, girls, most times miss classes when they are on their monthly period because their schools lack decent private toilets.
Snakebite in the bush
Adeola, 18, was bitten by a snake in the bush. In her community, most households do not have toilets and there are no public toilets in the community.
“Defecating in the bush is not a good experience. Sometimes, you are scared of going into the bush alone as a woman. I was bitten by a snake sometime ago,” Adeola lamented.
She recalled that she was about to squat to defecate when the snake bit her. “We usually go very early in the morning and later at night and when we cannot hold it in the afternoon we also go to the bush,” she explained.
Like Adeola, stories abound about Nigerian girls who have been attacked and violated sexually. Many of them have been exposed to different diseases or killed in the process.
For Grace, the problem is huge. “Most times you are forced to walk a long distance looking for a safe bush and when you are pressed in the middle of the night what happens? That is the most dangerous side of the problem. You may not have someone to accompany you.
“My younger sister was raped in the bush and to date, we have not found those responsible,” she said.
These problems could have been prevented if the girls had access to a toilet at home.