[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9763-9764]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       INDIA'S SANITATION CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the recent news account of a horrific 
murder and rape of two young girls in India shocked our consciousness, 
but one of the items that was interesting is that few of the news 
accounts actually detailed what put those young women at risk.
  Julie McCarthy of NPR had a story which highlighted one of the 
greatest human global health challenges that created this situation. 
They were indeed attacked, raped, and hung from a tree after they were 
caught in a field.
  These two young women didn't have access to a toilet, and like so 
many women around the world, but particularly in India, they went out 
in the fields at night to relieve themselves, and they went in a pair 
to minimize the likelihood that they would be isolated.
  This is offensive on so many levels. It is emblematic of violence 
against women, the vicious attitudes by people towards lower castes, 
and the complicated dynamic of castes in rural India.
  It is also testimony to the need to be able to have these young 
women--and others around the globe--have access to adequate sanitation 
facilities, so they don't have to sneak out at night or early in the 
morning, cloaked in darkness to disguise their embarrassment, to use a 
nearby field as their restroom.
  One-half of India's population uses open fields for defecation. Fewer 
than half of Indian households have a toilet. The women and girls 
perform a ritual to deal with this most basic bodily function, often in 
fear and trepidation.
  This is one more piece of evidence as to why the American effort to 
increase our help for access to basic sanitation and safe drinking 
water is a moral imperative, as well as being critical for global 
health, security, education, and stable economic development.
  Globally, 2.5 billion men, women, and children do not have access to 
adequate sanitation. This means that there are more people on Earth 
with a cell phone than with a toilet. Countries where open defecation 
is more prevalent also have the highest numbers of deaths for children 
under five, high levels of undernutrition and poverty, and huge 
disparities between rich and poor.
  The lack of adequate sanitation is a huge drag on economies at a 
national level. The total global economic losses associated with 
inadequate water supply and sanitation are estimated to be $260 billion 
annually.
  According to the World Bank for India alone, inadequate sanitation 
costs the country the equivalent of 6.4 percent of their gross domestic 
product, over $50 billion a year.

[[Page 9764]]

  Not only do women have to plan their day around performing this most 
basic bodily function, they are also most likely to be the family 
members tasked with collecting drinking water--often dirty and 
polluted--for their families.
  In fact, in just one day, it is estimated that more than 152 million 
hours of women and girls' time is consumed for another most basic of 
human need--collecting water, often from distant, polluted sources. 
This is time not spent working on income-generating jobs, caring for 
family members, or securing an education. The average distance for many 
of these women and girls is 10 miles a day.
  Like a woman's search for a safe place to relieve herself, the search 
for drinking water, particularly when they must walk alone before or 
after daylight hours, leaves her vulnerable to rape and other violent 
attacks.
  The most acutely impacted, however, are children. Over 1,400 children 
die every day from diarrhea caused from dirty water and poor 
sanitation. The lack of access to safe drinking water means a child 
dies needlessly every minute.
  These are heartbreaking stories and jarring facts, but there are 
solutions. That is why I am hopeful we will be able to work with our 
friends on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to move the bipartisan 
bill that I am working with Judge Poe, Water for the World Act, H.R. 
2901, to make American efforts more effective to deal with preventing 
the needless loss of a child's life every minute and the threat to 
young women and girls.
  If we needed more evidence, consider the lynching of these two 
teenage rape victims in India. How could we not do all we can?

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