Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices vary worldwide and depend on the individual’s socioeconomic status, personal preferences, local traditions and beliefs, and access to water and sanitation resources. MHM practices can be particularly unhygienic and inconvenient for girls and women in poorer settings. Little is known about whether unhygienic MHM...

This study examined sources of psychosocial stress related to the use of toilet facilities or open defecation by women and adolescent girls at home, public places, workplaces and in schools in a rural community in Pune, India. The mixed methods approach included focus group discussions among women, key informant...

The importance of maternal sanitation behaviour during pregnancy for birth outcomes remains unclear. Poor sanitation practices can promote infection and induce stress during pregnancy and may contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs). We aimed to assess whether poor sanitation practices were associated with increased risk of APOs such as...

While sanitation interventions have focused primarily on child health, women’s unique health risks from inadequate sanitation are gaining recognition as a priority issue. This study examines the range of sanitation-related psychosocial stressors during routine sanitation practices in Odisha, India. Between August 2013 and March 2014, we conducted in-depth interviews...

The European Social Charter is the only treaty in European law to apply to all the aspects of social protection which are the core of the European social model. It guarantees the right to social security, the right to social assistance and the right to benefit from social services....

The book is aimed at international and national decision-makers at all levels, as well as academics and university students interested in learning more about the development of the region’s social protection policies and programmes. It is hoped that it will prove particularly useful to those responsible for designing, executing,...

At the centre of the HIV/AIDS response are the 12 million people who need care and treatment. Those who are ill require support from carers who provide physical, social and psychological support. Yet these carers – essential actors in the response – are often invisible to the system that...

It is argued that social protection can reduce the extent to which marginalized people and groups are socially excluded. This paper investigates this thesis by considering what causes marginalization in the first place and what is needed to change the dynamics of exclusion. Using examples from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India...

The purpose of this handbook is to help civil society and those working on water and sanitation issues to adopt a human rights-based approach to advocacy, so that they can improve water and sanitation service regulation and provision at international, national and local levels. Directed primarily at community groups,...

This series of handbooks focuses on the challenges of creating strong community-based organizations, power analysis the role of networks in delivering better governance how to engage successfully with stakeholders and how to improve governance and make it sustainable.   Link to...

This is not a manual or a toolkit for the way the rights to water and sanitation should be implemented, and should not be read as guidance for how the rights to water and sanitation should or could be realised. It provides discussion and analysis of existing practices, which,...

This handbook has been developed to: clarify the meaning of the human rights to water and sanitation; explain the obligations that arise from these rights; provide guidance on implementing the human rights to water and sanitation; share some examples of good practice and show how these rights are being...

El objetivo de este libro es discutir y difundir conocimiento sobre aquellas políticas públicas, programas y marcos regulatorios que, desde un enfoque de derechos, están permitiendo ampliar la cobertura y las prestaciones de la protección social en América Latina. Por un lado, se procura brindar al lector un panorama...

This collection examines the human rights to social security and social protection from a women’s rights perspective. The contributors stress the need to address women’s poverty and exclusion within a human rights framework that takes account of gender. The chapters unpack the rights to social security and protection and...

Unpaid care work is a critical human rights issue, as well as a major obstacle to gender equality and poverty reduction. This article draws attention to the impact of heavy, intensive, and unequal burdens of unpaid care work on the human rights of women living in poverty, and analyses...

This article argues that the effects of the crises themselves are being compounded rather than relieved by the measures that many governments are taking in response. These are seriously threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of the poorest people, and are having a devastating effect on their enjoyment of...

The last three decades have seen remarkable changes in economic structures and policies both within and across countries, loosely captured by the term globalization. This paper reviews evidence on how key aspects of globalization processes have impacted the real economy, in terms of employment and social conditions of work...

The informal workforce is growing worldwide, and changes in the global structure of employment and in places of employment mean that work is a source of hazard and ill-health for many poorer workers. Yet informal workers do not have access to work-related social security. They face high work-related risks,...

Universal coverage of health care is now receiving substantial worldwide and national attention, but debate continues on the best mix of financing mechanisms, especially to protect people outside the formal employment sector. Crucial issues are the equity implications of different financing mechanisms, and patterns of service use. This report provides...

This book, edited by Peter Townsend, makes the case for a comprehensive social security system to be developed in all countries, including the poorest ones, in order to eliminate desperate conditions of poverty, to reverse growing inequality and to sustain economic growth. The establishment of universal social security systems...

Poverty and Shame: Global Experiences, edited by Elaine Chase and Grace Bantebya-Kyomuhendo,  explores Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s contention that shame lies at the absolutist core of poverty. It draws on a wealth of empirical evidence to demonstrate how paying greater attention to the psychological and social consequences of poverty...

The Shame of Poverty, edited by Robert Walker, presents comparable evidence from the seven countries, challenges the conventional thinking that separates discussion of poverty found in the Global North from that prevalent in the Global South. It demonstrates that the emotional experience of poverty, with its attendant social and...