Peer-reviewed article
Ensuring Hygiene for All: Evaluating SDG 6.2 through the Sustainability of Public Sanitation
Judit Glavanits ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This paper looks at the gap between the global commitment to sanitation and hygiene for all (SDG Target 6.2) and how people actually use public toilets. It combines international comparative data with an exploratory study in Hungary. It argues that counting facilities does not show whether toilets are usable, safe and dignified, and that capacity limits, poor maintenance and a lack of care-friendly, inclusive design place a heavier burden on women. It proposes treating sanitation as part of gendered and inclusive urban citizenship. Children are mentioned only in passing, so the paper is not mainly about child well-being.
Key points
- Public sanitation is often treated as an optional amenity rather than a core public service.
- Equal provision on paper can still lead to unequal use in practice.
- Capacity constraints, maintenance failures and lack of care-integrated, inclusive design create disproportionate burdens for women.
- Current monitoring, including indicator 6.2.1a, does not capture usability, safety and dignity well.
- The paper calls for a shift from infrastructure-based metrics to sanitation as part of gendered and inclusive urban citizenship.
Limitations
The abstract describes the empirical study as exploratory and gives no sample size or methods. It focuses on women and urban public space in Hungary and does not report findings specific to children. It does not evaluate an intervention.
Abstract
Under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, specifically Target 6.2, the international community committed to ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, with particular attention to the needs of women, girls, and individuals in vulnerable situations. Despite this commitment, public sanitation continues to be treated as a discretionary amenity rather than a core public service essential for dignity, mobility, and social participation. This paper examines the gap between the normative framework of SDG 6.2 and the lived realities of sanitation use through an integrated analytical approach that combines international comparative data with an exploratory empirical study conducted in Hungary. Moving beyond conventional metrics of access such as facility counts or service levels, the research highlights how formal equality in provision may translate into substantive inequalities in use. It demonstrates how capacity constraints, maintenance failures, and the lack of care-integrated and inclusive design generate disproportionate burdens for women, while drawing on selected international literature to reflect on broader exclusion and safety concerns in gender-segregated sanitation systems. The findings suggest that current monitoring frameworks, including indicator 6.2.1a, inadequately capture the qualitative dimensions of sanitation access, particularly those related to usability, safety, and dignity in public space. In response, the paper argues for a conceptual shift from infrastructure-based metrics toward a more comprehensive understanding of sanitation as a component of gendered and inclusive urban citizenship. The paper briefly reflects on implications for urban planning and governance, highlighting the relevance of institutional accountability and more inclusive, user-sensitive sanitation design within the broader human rights framework of the United Nations. Keywords: public sanitation, gendered citizenship, gender equality, right to sanitation