No home, no toilet, where do you go? Publicly accessible bathrooms & water insecurity in Seattle, WA

Keywords: water insecurity, WASH, homelessness,
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 7

Abstract

Publicly accessible bathrooms in urban centers of high-income countries are disappearing as cities confront a variety of fiscal, political, and cultural challenges to provision. Changes to public spaces wrought by COVID-19 have exacerbated this loss. Without a plumbed home and limited access to public or private buildings, urban residents experiencing homelessness face increased barriers to accessing water for sanitation and hygiene (WASH). In Seattle, Washington, the city struggles to address persistent, growing homelessness alongside contradictory accounts of the adequacy of WASH infrastructure accessible to unhoused residents. This paper examines the current availability of WASH infrastructure and barriers to its access for unhoused residents in Seattle, asking where WASH infrastructure is located, when is it accessible, and what stipulations produce barriers to its access? To do so, the study approaches WASH from a water security framework to examine the limitations to access of infrastructure posed by physical location, city policy, and social practice. Direct observation and systematic cataloging, inventory the available WASH infrastructure while rules and regulations for provision and access were documented from in-person, phone, and email inquiries. The study provides empirical clarification on actual, existing WASH infrastructure and the rules and regulations that mitigate their access in public buildings, private businesses, and city park facilities. The paper concludes by initiating discussion on the implications of publicly accessible WASH for public health, social stigma, and practices of survival.