By Dr Swati Jindal Garg
It is said that there are only two calls that a person can never miss—the call of death and the call of nature! However, it seems that women in India have become a pro at evading the second one. Women lawyers especially have been suffering for the past several decades and agitating over the issue of non-existent toilets in various district court complexes across the country.
The Nilgiris’ Women Lawyers Association has been at the forefront in raising awareness against the glaring lack of washroom facilities for women in the sprawling, newly-built Nilgiris District Court complex. In fact, such was the uproar caused that the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the issue based on a report on the plight of the women lawyers who have been fighting for a toilet in the court complex for nearly three decades. The Nilgiris District Bar Association, on the other hand, had opposed the plea by women lawyers and sought impleadment in the matter, contending that the allegations were incorrect. Shortly after the first hearing before the top court, the concerned district judge allotted two rooms and a toilet for the exclusive use of women lawyers.
The women lawyers from Karnataka are also seeking the support through a petition that has been addressed to the chief justice of India, wherein they are asking for opening up existing toilets for use, regular maintenance to prevent the stench in court corridors, and new mugs and soaps. The Bombay High Court, too, has received a petition highlighting the continued lack of female-centric amenities in courts—including toilets, bar rooms, lockers, childcare and drinking water facilities—following which a committee has been constituted.
The fight for better infrastructure is not a new one. Way back in 2019, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy had conducted a survey of 665 district court complexes across India on parameters laid down in the National Court Management Systems’ Baseline Report, 2012, regarding infrastructural requirements in the district judiciary. At that time, too, it was found that nearly 100 district court complexes lacked any toilet facilities for women, and even in the 585 (88 percent) court complexes that had washrooms, 60 percent were not fully functional.
Even though as the administrative head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice of India (CJI) has been very progressive in this regard since the inception of his tenure, it cannot be denied that little has changed in terms of the attitude or the facilities on ground throughout the country. A good start was made by the apex court by approving the construction of gender-neutral washrooms in its complex, but this too shall merely be a token gesture at best, since the biggest requirement is felt at the first point of contact for lakhs of lawyers and litigants, which are the district courts.
What may surprise most is that this lack of infrastructure is felt not only by the hapless litigants, but also internal stakeholders, such as judges and staff. Vidhi’s research across various courts has revealed that even the administrative offices, chambers and courtrooms are either very often not well-lit and ventilated, or are placed next to poorly-maintained toilets or drains, which add to the health woes of all concerned.
The available infrastructure needs an overhaul not only in terms of being gender inclusive, but also for multiple different categories of other users. It needs to be kept in mind that the court complexes are places that no one would like to go to willingly, and with such a dismal scenario, all litigants, who are already unfamiliar with an imposing system, when faced with other debilitating factors like the absence of accessible way finding directions and information signage at most courts, including signage in local languages or adequate visual representation, feel even more at sea.
Any attempt that has been made till date to make the system more accessible have been rather lacklustre, to say the least. The external ramps, for example, that have been constructed for the wheelchair ridden, lack accompanying overhead cover, and most of the times, have a dead end or are rendered inaccessible by the placement of furniture or other barriers that hinder their movement.
In the light of the fact that most of the courts lack the basic facilities for the common man and woman, asking for amenities that meet the requirement of special users seems like a big ask today. All those users who have additional needs end up being systematically excluded from these spaces as their requirements are often not considered while designing these spaces.
As per a recent report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court, nearly one-fifth of the district court complexes in the country lack separate toilets for women. The report, titled “State of the Judiciary” underscored the necessity of women-friendly toilets, stating that sanitary napkin vending machines have been provided at only 6.7 percent of the toilets meant for women.
“To ensure equality, dignity and the right to menstrual health and sanitation facilities to women, it is essential that women toilets in institutions of justice have sanitary napkin vending machines with appropriate menstrual waste disposal options,” it stated.
The report also cited data from the National Judicial Data Grid and stated that while 19.7 percent of district courts did not have separate toilets for women, as of September 25, 2023, the condition of the existing washrooms too painted a grim picture—“Sometimes, toilets are attached to the chambers of judicial officers, and both male and female judges are required to share a common washroom,” it added.
Stating that there were instances when judges personally had to engage sweepers and cleaners to ensure cleanliness and hygiene, the report also revealed that most district courts did not have toilets for transgender persons and emphasised the need for “gender-inclusive toilets” in every court complex.
Enumerating that Kerala has washrooms for transgender persons that are available on a sharing basis with persons with disabilities, the report also added that in Uttarakhand, there are only four washrooms for transgender persons across the state while Tamil Nadu offers such facilities only in two districts, namely Chennai and Coimbatore. The report further cautioned that using washrooms that “do not align with their gender identity may cause discomfort and harassment to transgender persons”.
Globally, women and girls face threats and experience violence at all stages of their lives, across cultures and countries and in all spaces. These threats and experience acting as constraints often restrict their movement and limit their spaces of mobility, even dictating mobility associated with sanitation behaviours. Without access to a female toilet, too often women and girls are forced to restrict the intake of water and other liquids in order to control the urge to urinate or else make do with toilets that are not clean and pose major health risks. Vulnerability to violence is one of the foremost sanitation challenges faced by women. Furthermore, the lack of access, also makes them vulnerable to infectious diseases, and attacks by men. Further, having to take care of menstrual needs in a toilet that does not have exclusive female entry also poses numerous difficulties.
Wadi Ben-Hirki, the great humanitarian, has rightly said: “Life doesn’t always give us what we deserve, but rather, what we demand. And so you must continue to push harder than any other person in the room.” There is no doubt that the ball has been set rolling for a more inclusive infrastructure that demands basic amenities for females, but whether it will bring about the desired change, remains to be seen.
—The author is an Advocate-on-Record practising in the Supreme Court, Delhi High Court and all district courts and tribunals in Delhi