A qualitative exploration of women’s sanitation-related bodily integrity, safety, and privacy in Kampala, Uganda Open Access
Pico, Courtney (Spring 2021)
Abstract
Introduction: An estimated 673 million people (9%) still practice open defecation globally. Women and girls are disproportionally impacted by sanitation, not only because of biological differences, but also due to gender roles, socio-cultural norms, and barriers that contribute to unsafe sanitation experiences. The aim of this qualitative research is to explore bodily integrity, safety, and privacy related to women’s sanitation experiences in Kampala, Uganda.
Methodology: This is a secondary analysis of 16 cognitive interviews that were conducted with women over 18 years old in three different neighborhoods (Kisenyi III, Upper Naguru and Naguru Godown) of Kampala, Uganda. The interviews were conducted as part of the MUSE Project, which aims to develop measures of women’s sanitation-related empowerment in urban contexts. To develop a cohesive survey tool that can be used across different cultures, MUSE facilitated cognitive interviews with women in both Kampala, Uganda and Tiruchirappalli (Trichy), India. A brief quantitative survey was also conducted before each cognitive interview was facilitated to gather demographic information from each participant.
For analysis, the 16 cognitive interview transcripts from Kampala, Uganda focused on ‘resources’ were uploaded into MAXQDA 2020, a qualitative data analysis program. The textual data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach to analyze women’s perceptions of sanitation-related bodily integrity, safety, and privacy. The 16 transcripts were coded in MAXQDA. The coding process of the 16 cognitive interview transcripts allowed for the data to be reduced into meaningful categories to determine apparent themes that could be examined across the data set. Codes were also further compared by variable in order to identify themes that emerged across type of sanitation (private, shared, or public), age, and situational preferences.
Results: Safety and privacy serve as integral components to bodily integrity and are not exclusive in women’s sanitation experience. A majority of women’s responses frequently related to two or all three of the subdomains in question. For most of the elicited responses, one subdomain often impacted the anther. Health issues were found to be related to safety concerns, lack privacy impacted feelings of safety, and suppressing the need to urinate or defecate due to safety concerns caused adverse health impacts. When women shared experiences that adversely impacted their overall physical and mental well-being (bodily integrity), they usually coincided with concerns for their safety. When women mentioned issues regarding their sanitation-related safety, these usually impacted their privacy and overall physical and mental well-being (bodily integrity). In addition, when women mentioned matters that impacted their sanitation-related privacy, these too usually impacted their overall safety and well-being (bodily integrity).
Discussion: . Findings from the thematic analysis showed that women’s sanitation experiences in Kampala, Uganda adversely impacted their sanitation-related bodily integrity, safety, and privacy. Women’s who shared anecdotes about how negative sanitation experiences adversely impacted their sanitation-related bodily integrity often also stated there was a negative impact to their sanitation-related safety. Barriers that created an unsafe sanitation experience, also impacted women’s sanitation-related bodily integrity and privacy. In addition, situations that negatively impacted the women’s sanitation-related privacy would then also negatively impact their bodily integrity and safety. The shared responses collected from the women in cognitive interviews, showed that there was a clear interconnectedness to the subdomains as their responses often times included reference to an issue related to a combination of two or all three the subdomains.
Table of Contents
CONTRIBUTION OF STUDENT……………………………………………..............…..1
I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………...2
II. LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………..……...5
III. METHODS……………………………………………………………………….…..14
Study Background……………………………………………..………………...14
Study Setting……………………………………………..…………………....…15
Data Collection………………………………………………..…………………..15
Data Management…………………………………………..………………….…18
Data Analysis………………………………………..………………………….....18
Ethics………………………………………………………………..……....……...21
IV. RESULTS……..…………………………………………………………………….....22
V. DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………..…..37
VI. PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS…………………………………………….....42
VII. TABLES……………………………………………………………………………......44
Table 1…………………………………………………………………………........44
Table 2…………………………………………………………………………........45
VIII. FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………........47
Figure 1………………………………………………………………………....…..47
IX. REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………....….48
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