Learn how disability profoundly shapes access to sanitation, as diverse impairments create distinct infrastructural and social barriers.
Sanitation systems often privilege able-bodied individuals, while overlooking the diverse needs of Persons with Disabilities (PwD). Particularly, women, girls, gender non-conforming, and trans individuals with disabilities face multiple and intersecting barriers across urban and rural contexts. These challenges often foster dependence on caregivers, limit personal agency, and ultimately compromise dignity, health, and basic rights. Without intentional inclusion, their rights and needs remain unaddressed, perpetuating cycles of marginalisation and inequity.
When I started at school, awareness and facilities for children with disabilities were almost non-existent. I was a wheelchair user, and since the school lacked a wheelchair accessible toilet, I used to avoid drinking water all day.
Because of my physical constraints, it used to be extremely difficult to change my sanitary pads without assistance. Often, I had to crawl to reach the toilet, and avoiding leaks or infections became a constant struggle.
In my undergraduate hostel, I was automatically allotted a ground-floor room because it had an “accessible” toilet designed for mobility challenges. Being visually impaired, my needs are different, but they are often not asked for or assessed.
Defined as a system of historical and contemporary policies, institutions, and societal norms, ‘Structural Ableism’ leads to the creation of WASH infrastructure that is exclusionary to people with disabilities by design. Feminist Disability Theory is used to critique the framing of disability as an individual deficit and instead highlights external barriers. It also emphasises how ableism and gender interact, compounding exclusions for women and gender-diverse persons with disabilities. While some policies and programs explicitly mandate barrier-free access to sanitation, they lack consistent, enforceable mechanisms and mandates for integration.
Read about the policies and frameworks that frame access to sanitation for people with disabilities as a fundamental human rights and social justice issue.
Held between 2024 and 2025, CREA’s national and state-level consultations convened disability rights activists, WASH practitioners, policymakers, civil society actors, and academics to spotlight the lived realities of people with disabilities. Through dialogue, shared experience, and collective reflection, these consultations generated strategies to advance inclusive, equitable, and rights-based sanitation practices.
Find out more about the dialogues between partners that addressed sanitation inequities by highlighting lived experiences, policy, and implementation gaps.
In January 2024, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment amended the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, to include accessible piped water supply and accessibility standards for community toilets in rural areas, specifically for people with disabilities. Source
Improve your understanding of Disability-inclusive WASH through curated guides, briefs, and training tools designed to support more inclusive and equitable sanitation practice.
Dr Abha Khetarpal, a National Awardee and Henry Viscardi honouree, is a disability rights advocate, counsellor, and educator with over 13 years of experience. She is an accomplished trainer in gender, disability rights and etiquette, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for persons with disabilities. She has developed curricula for Edifying Inclusion, an LMS platform offering self-paced courses on inclusion and accessibility. She has authored manuals, toolkits, and handbooks on SRHR, menstrual management, disability rights, and self-advocacy. As a consultant to WHO, Women’s Fund Asia, and UNFPA projects, she advances intersectional, rights-based, disability-inclusive approaches across WASH, health, and education.
Connect with Dr Abha – email, LinkedIn, edifyinginclusion.com, abhakhetarpal.com
Dr Anjlee Agarwal, co-founder of Samarthyam (1991), is a leading universal accessibility and inclusive mobility specialist with over 33 years of experience. Her expertise spans accessibility, mobility, and WASH, making her a respected researcher, author, and advocate for equity. She bridges policy gaps through the NITI Aayog CSO Standing Committee and is a master trainer with global experience in capacity-building, gender, SRHR, and disability-inclusive WASH. Her work has earned UN recognition and a National Award (2003). With a PhD on accessibility as a human right, she empowers women with disabilities and is recognised as a Transformative Leader for an Accessible World.
Connect with Dr Anjlee – samarthyam.com
Purna Mohanty is the Technical Lead for Sanitation, Policy, and Technical Support at WaterAid India, with over 25 years of experience in the WASH sector. His work focuses on advancing safe, sustainable, and inclusive sanitation systems, with particular expertise in faecal sludge and septage management, sanitation technologies, water security, and disability-inclusive WASH. He has played a key role in integrating universal design and accessibility into sanitation and water infrastructure, including in disaster-prone contexts. Mr Mohanty has also contributed to policy development and programme innovation through community-led approaches and government engagement. An accomplished author, he has published widely on groundwater management, rainwater harvesting, accessible WASH standards, and disaster-resilient sanitation.
