Women, water and access: inscribing gender power in and through a place.

This paper explores the socio-cultural and gender-based dynamics associated with place values, and their implications for women's access to water through case studies of upland and riverine communities in southern Nigeria. We used a range of fieldwork methods including public meetings, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, keen observations, key informants and other secondary sources. Our findings show that drinking water sources are a part of the many forms of visible material structures that embody and generate automatic reproduction of gender-based beliefs, attitudes, feelings and practices. The outcome of such practices affects men and women differently in relation to access, workload and capacity for hygiene and other socio-economic practices. In discussing access to essential public goods, social and economic capacities take priority focus over the impact of 'place values' either as standalone or intersectional elements. Research should be expanded to incorporate these elements and their intersectional perspectives in shaping access to water.

Slums, women and sanitary living in South-South Nigeria.

How much do slums affect women's ability to negotiate access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH)? We used random narratives, interviews, and a review of literature from theoretical and secondary sources to capture the experiences of slum dwellers in South-South Nigeria. Our findings demonstrate that women and girls bear disproportionate burden and risk of poor and inadequate WaSH services in the course of domestic supplies and management and making tough choices in negotiating between personal sanitary needs of privacy and safety as well as attending to domestic hygiene, childcare and other chores. These lived realities and experiences are partly associated with gendered public policy practices, linked to the broader socio-cultural norm that confine women's roles to the private/domestic spheres, while men are free to pursue higher aspirations and opportunities. Limited State capacity to guarantee universal access to WaSH for slum dwellers automatically shifts the responsibility for its provision to the private/domestic domain with women bearing the greater burden. We argue that the non-recognition of slums in official discourses limit their consideration for essential public services provision, and the implication of such neglect is discussed in the context of the consequences on women in the course of negotiating access to WaSH.