Open defecation
People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation.
In India, for example, the number had decreased by 62%, (73%) in 2000 to (11%) in 2022, showcasing the country’s significant efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
[6][7] However, despite the progress, India still had the largest number of people practicing open defecation, followed by Nigeria, Ethiopia, Niger, Pakistan and Indonesia.
[10] Open defecation perpetuates the vicious cycle of disease and poverty and is widely regarded as an affront to personal dignity.
The original meaning of ODF stated that all community members are using sanitation facilities (such as toilets) instead of going to the open for defecation.
This definition was improved and more criteria were added in some countries that have adopted the CLTS approach in their programs to stop the practice of open defecation.
There may be a risk to personal safety due to lack of lights at night, criminals around them, or the presence of animals such as snakes and dogs.
[24] In some parts of the world, Zambia for example, very young children are discouraged from using pit latrines due to the risk of them falling through the open drop-hole.
Older people are often found to defecate in the open and are hesitant to change their behavior and go inside a closed toilet.
For instance, a 2011 survey in rural East Java, Indonesia, found that many men considered the practice 'normal', and having distinct benefits such as social interaction and physical comfort.
People with fecal incontinence can have abrupt 'emergencies' and not enough time to access a toilet, which can make open defecation their only option in such scenarios.
The practice of open defecation is strongly related to poverty and exclusion particularly, in the case of rural areas and informal urban settlements in developing countries.
The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) of UNICEF and WHO has been collecting data regarding open defecation prevalence worldwide.
This program is tasked to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) relating to drinking water and sanitation.
As open defecation is one example of unimproved sanitation, it is being monitored by JMP for each country, and results are published on a regular basis.
In September 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation honored Indian leader Narendra Modi for his efforts in improving sanitation in the country.
[49][50] In October 2019, Modi declared India to be "open defecation free", though this announcement was met with skepticism by experts who cited slowly changing behaviors, maintenance issues, and water access issues as obstacles that continued to block India's goal of being 100% open defecation free.
[35][8] In recent decades, a combination of factors has led to a dramatic decline in the availability of public restrooms in the United States.
Once ubiquitous pay toilets, which charged a small fee per user, fell out of favor in the 1970s and were in most cases not replaced by free public restrooms.
[60] In San Francisco, open defecation complaints for street feces increased fivefold from 2011 to 2018, with 28,084 cases reported.
[63] The Mad Pooper was the name given to an unidentified woman who regularly defecated in public places while jogging during summer 2017 in the U.S. city of Colorado Springs.
"[68] Open defecation badly harms health of children and their quality of life, including psychological issues.
[70] Women are at risk of sexual molestation and rape as they search for places to urinate or defecate that are secluded and private, often during hours of darkness.
Reports of attacks or harassment near or in toilet facilities, as well as near or in areas where women urinate or defecate openly, are common.
SaniFOAM (Focus on Opportunity, Ability, and Motivation) is a conceptual framework that was developed specifically to address issues of sanitation and hygiene.
Using focus, opportunity, ability and motivation as categories of determinants, the SaniFOAM model identifies barriers to latrine adoption while simultaneously serving as a tool for designing, monitoring and evaluating sanitation interventions.
[76] A key aspect is awareness-raising (for example via the UN World Toilet Day at a global level), behavior change campaigns, and increasing political will and demand for sanitation.
Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) campaigns have placed a particular focus on ending open defecation by "triggering" the communities themselves into action.
The mainstream media in some affected countries, including India[83][84] and Pakistan,[85][86][87] have recently been publicizing the issue of open defecation.
[88][89][90] David Sedaris' essay "Adventures at Poo Corner" dealt with people who openly defecate in commercial businesses.
