1. Risks and Challenges: Open Defecation in India
ICRC
March 7-9, 2016

2. Team members Principal Investigator:
Robin Patric Clair, Professor, Brian Lamb School of Communication (BLSC), Purdue University
Co-Investigators:
Rahul Rastogi, ABD, BLSC, Purdue University & Western Illinois University
Ernest (Chip) R. Blatchley III, Professor, Lyles School of Civil Engineering and Division of Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Purdue University
Rosie Clawson, Professor & Head of the Political Science Department, Purdue University
Charlotte Erdmann, Librarian, M.A., -Siegesmund Engineering Library, Purdue University
Seungyoon Lee, Associate Professor, BLSC, Purdue University

3. Open Defecation (OD)
Open defecation is urinating or defecating in the open (e.g., in fields, by railroad tracks or along the road or path to the fields)
It is common in less industrialized nations, especially India (over 60% of the population practices OD)
There are risks associated with it and challenges to overcoming it

4. RISKS (from a ‘western’ perspective)
Health risks:
Diarrheal Diseases –2nd leading cause of death in India (WorldLifeExpectancy, 2009)
Children are most susceptible (WHO, 2015; WASH, 2013, 2015) (e.g., helminthes)
Causes physical stunting, cognitive impairment, and possibly death (Spears, Ghosh & Cumming, 2013)

5. SOLUTION (from a ‘western’ perspective)
Provide toilets--
Port-a-potties
Communal bathrooms
Latrines

6. Extended Narrative Empathy
Understanding the Other Person’s Perspective
(Clair et al. in press—Communication Theory)
Multiple perspectives: Rural Indian perspective, men’s, women’s , girl’s, boy’s, residents’, farmers’ perspectives, historical, caste, etc.

7. Study: A communication ethnography
Kumbhdaura and Chowka
December 2014 and mid-January 2015 and again summer 2015
11 Focus groups (men, women, and marriage age girls)
Translated (from Hindi) to English and Transcribed (119 single- space pages of text)
Assessed by way of Owen’s (1984) thematic analysis
Narrative interpretation

9. Risks (from a rural Indian perspective) OD
Shame & embarrassment
Fending off robbers
Dealing with harassment and physical abuse (for women)
Slipping in feces
Going at night
Animals (e.g., hogs)
Flies and mosquitoes
FEW PEOPLE MENTIONED HEALTH RISKS

10. Further Challenges Understanding culture
People prefer the outdoors
Toilets smell so bad they can make you sick
Latrines will keep girls and brides from being able to go outside and socialize
Men see toilets as for women, children, infirmed and disabled
Understanding culture

13. Climate, Cost, and most importantly Culture
Stifling heat waves—temps as high 120
Droughts in summer
Flooding during rainy season
Governm’t built toilet least used, others more expensive
Solid brick
No ventilation
Backyard smells bad

14. If given the perfect toilet…
Impeccably clean
Hooks for hanging clothes
Well-ventilated
Door closure with locks
Specified wall height
Washing facility –running water or equivalent
Everything you desire… would you use the toilet?

15. Would you use it if it were impeccable?
NO, but others might …

16. Do you want toilets?
YES

17. Current Studies Indicate
Areas with toilets (Total Sanitation Campaign- toilets, hand-washing, local support, com & ed campaigns)
62% of families have one person –OD
47% of people do not use toilets regularly
39% of people said the do not use toilets at all
(Barnard et al., 2013)

18. Health outcomes
Almost no discernable health benefits from partial implementation (diarrhea and stunting among children—1.3 cm increase in height)
Hammer & Spears, 2013

19. Challenges
Identity
Discourse and socialization (e.g., justification for socialization)
Resistance to colonial practices (e.g., toilet)
Resistance to historical caste prejudice (e.g., cleaning the pit)
Ecological & Environmental (e.g., water issues)
Engineering (e.g., Bill Gates Foundation—Build a better toilet)

20. Identity, Discourse, Desire, & Resistance
Men preferred the outdoors (and many women)
Women and girls would not have a justifiable excuse to meet their friends and socialize and talk
They would lose their “freedom” & “joy” to talk with others

23. TAKE AWAY Remember risk may be defined differently across cultures
Listen with “empathy”
Note that cultures are complex; solutions are not always simple

24. Acknowledgements
This project is supported by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant Purdue University’s Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) Thank you