By Amita Bhakta
On 28th February 2024, I had the pleasure of delivering a seminar called ‘Hidden geographies: a critical perspective from sanitation services in the global South’ at the School of Geography and Environment at Loughborough University.
I used the session to explore the theme of hiddenness and hidden geographies through my work over the last ten years working in the WASH sector. In the first part of the talk, I discussed the hidden geographies of sanitation, and what I had learned from my research on the WASH needs of perimenopausal women in Ghana during my PhD. The second part of my talk focused on hidden infrastructures, drawing specifically on my recent collaborative journal paper with colleagues at CEPT University on the need for water in shared urban toilets for menstrual hygiene management. The final part of the talk turned the focus of attention towards the hidden geographies of labour and the need for more inclusive approaches to realising the rights of sanitation workers.
A very special thanks to Edwin Baynes, John Harrison and James Esson for initiating this event and to the School of Geography and Environment for inviting me to give this talk.