Assessment of urban sanitation and empowerment of women in Meherpur and Saidpur municipalities, Bangladesh

Access to safely managed sanitation is fundamental to public health, dignity, and gender equality. Yet in many low-income urban settlements in Bangladesh, women continue to face barriers related to privacy, safety, mobility, and meaningful participation in sanitation governance. To inform gender-responsive sanitation programming, the Measuring Urban Sanitation and Empowerment (MUSE) study examined how sanitation infrastructure and social structures shape women’s empowerment in the municipalities of Saidpur and Meherpur in 2022.

A comparative survey of 1,449 adult women (729 in Saidpur; 720 in Meherpur) assessed sanitation-related empowerment across three domains—Agency, Resources, and Institutional Structures—comprising 16 subdomains. The analysis combined descriptive statistics with unadjusted odds ratio methods to compare empowerment outcomes across the two municipalities.

Findings indicate distinct but complementary patterns. Saidpur, where sanitation interventions began earlier, demonstrates comparatively stronger infrastructure indicators: 93% of respondents report access to private sanitation facilities and 86% report in-dwelling toilets. Women in Saidpur also report higher levels of perceived safety, privacy, and satisfaction with sanitation facilities. However, community-level participation, comfort in reporting sanitation concerns, and collective engagement remain comparatively limited, suggesting that improvements in infrastructure do not automatically translate into broader empowerment outcomes.

In contrast, Meherpur exhibits lower infrastructure coverage (83% private access; 57% in-dwelling facilities) but comparatively stronger indicators of social participation and institutional engagement. Women report greater confidence that their voices are heard in community forums, stronger family encouragement to participate in sanitation initiatives, and higher comfort interacting with service providers. Nearly 95% of respondents consider women’s participation in mixed-gender sanitation meetings appropriate, reflecting comparatively supportive social norms.

Across both municipalities, sanitation responsibilities remain strongly gendered, with women bearing primary responsibility for maintenance and household sanitation tasks. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed vulnerabilities, particularly in Saidpur, where access to sanitation and menstrual hygiene materials became more constrained.

The comparative findings underscore a central insight: infrastructure investment and social empowerment do not progress automatically or simultaneously. Saidpur reflects stronger household-level sanitation access, while Meherpur demonstrates comparatively stronger participation dynamics. Sustainable and gender-equitable urban sanitation therefore requires integrated strategies that strengthen infrastructure while simultaneously promoting women’s decision-making, institutional inclusion, and leadership.

Achieving SDG 6.2 will depend not only on expanding sanitation coverage, but also on embedding gender-responsive design, enhancing accountability mechanisms, and transforming restrictive social norms. Empowering women as active participants in sanitation governance is essential to improving service effectiveness and building resilient urban sanitation systems.