Before I marry you……..do you have a toilet?
Indoor plumbing is something of a luxury in India where nearly half the population live in houses with no toilet.
However the country’s young women are now quietly rebelling against a situation that can lead to a loss of dignity, the spread of disease - and even premature death.
Brides-to-be are insisting that their future husband provide them with a home with a loo before they say yes. The "No Toilet, No Bride" campaign was initiated by the Indian government as a tool for providing social change. And change is obviously needed.
More people in India have access to a mobile phone or television than a toilet. An estimated 665 million people - the largest number worldwide - still defecate outside. In fact some prefer this arrangement since they consider having an indoor toilet close to where food is being prepared to be a health risk.
However, a study by the World Bank says that 450,000 diarrhoea-related deaths occur each year in India due to poor hand hygiene with a cost of treatment for related diseases at around $38.5bn.
So Indian women are being given the task of global “toilet training” for two reasons. The first is that females are traditionally responsible for cleanliness in Indian households. The second is that they have some natural leverage in a country where there are eight per cent more men than women.
So there is work to be done, but the country is already heading down the road of improved sanitation according to founder of the Sulabh Sanitation Movement Bindeshwar Pathak. “In India people live in small houses and there is often no land to build a toilet, but despite these problems the country has made a huge jump and that should be acknowledged,” he said. “From 20 per cent in 2001, 57 per cent of the population have toilets today – and it's a huge achievement."
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