On the occasion of International Day of the Girl, Deepa Pawar writes about the effect community toilets have on the dignity of girls, as well as the importance of girl led movements towards gender justice.

“Ever since I was a young girl, community toilets have caused me immense mental distress. I continued returning to the question, whose fault is it?

I started working with NGOs on rights campaigns, and I began to develop lenses of body dignity, sexuality, and reproductive health. As I worked on the Right to Pee campaign for free public toilets for women and girls, I finally realized that my suffering was not my fault.

It is the fault of an administration that is indifferent to girls’ and women’s body dignity. It is the fault of the government, which is not responsive to people’s basic needs.”

Read her full article here on World Pulse