Implications of sanitation environment on women's health: a case on railway slum of Khulna city in Bangladesh​

Abstract

Sanitation is a multidimensional concept, mainly including providing service for clean water and safe disposal of human excreta, drainage and waste management. The researcher of the study aims to find out the existing condition of the sanitation environment and women’s health issues for the implication of the sanitation environment. For this purpose, the researcher used the Khulna railway slum informal settlement of Khulna city as the study area and identified the sample size through convenience sampling as the study is explanatory. Under convenience sampling, 134 respondents were surveyed through a face-to-face interview. Through the study, the researcher learns about the existing sanitation environment through the present condition of sanitary facilities, drainage facilities, water facilities and waste management facilities. Furthermore, the sanitation environment is a significant concern in the slums. Because of the poor sanitation environment, the slum women are getting sick. They face physical health issues like cold and cough, diarrhoea, skin disease and urinary tract infection. Moreover, they also experience psychological health issues like depression, loss of sleep and losing confidence. In addition, women experience health issues during pregnancy (eating disorders, weakness, nausea, shortness of breath, back pain, sleep disorder, depression and anxiety disorder) and menstruation period (stomach pain, mood swing, excessive bleeding, rash at external genitalia).