There is perhaps no clearer example of this than that of manual scavengers in India; these are workers, almost always from Dalit castes, who clean human excrement from sewage systems by hand, exposing them to innumerable health hazards.

1. Despite the practice being outlawed, over 66,000 people are still employed as manual scavengers today, but because of the caste discrimination and stigma that they face they have been unable to find more adequate employment.
2. The case of manual scavengers led Leo Heller, then the UN special rapporteur on water and sanitation, to note in 2018 that addressing the crisis of public sanitation in India is not just a matter of installing more facilities. If this is done without also addressing the human rights crisis of discrimination against Dalits, then it is likely that public health programs will simply lead to Dalits being denied access to these facilities, or even being forced to clean them.
3. Public health programs must therefore be united with programs to enforce anti-discrimination laws and ensure that all members of society are given equal access to such programs.

The Roma of Europe are also a clear example of how discrimination based on work and descent is entangled with issues of inadequate sanitation. Facing extreme discrimination, the Roma are often forcibly evicted by government officials to the outskirts of society, and are often forced to live in landfills, where the majority find work by scavenging through the refuse. Living and working in these conditions thus results in the Roma being associated in the minds of the dominant community with waste, making it even more challenging for them to find adequate employment or housing elsewhere. And, predictably, living amongst waste – which often includes toxic materials dumped by local factories – has resulted in severe illnesses and death amongst the Roma community.

Water

Access to water is another issue in which the discrimination faced by CDWDs becomes highly apparent; it is important to note that this issue is not separate from the issue of sanitation by any means. For example, by segregating the Roma from the society at large governments in Europe have also cut off their access to reliable and clean water, with no efforts being made to provide them with an alternative water source. It is estimated that 30 percent of Roma in Europe live without access to running water, and thus, many have had to turn to water from rivers that have been contaminated by the very same toxins that they are exposed to by living in landfills.

Similarly, Dalits in South Asia are likewise denied access to community water sources. Segregated to the outskirts of villages, Dalits often must walk long distances to fetch water from wells and pumps, and in the process are often harassed and even assaulted. Dalit children, meanwhile, are often denied access to water in schools. 6 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of Dalit households can afford clean drinking water. 7 As such, Dalits are extremely vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and hepatitis A.

The Sahel region of Africa is another area in which discrimination based on work and descent results in significant portions of the population being denied access to drinking water. In countries such as Niger, Mali, and Mauritania slavery of groups such as the Haratin and the Bellah is still widely practiced. These groups live in extreme poverty and often have no access to clean water, a condition which is growing worse by the day as desertification driven by climate change continues to wreak havoc on the Sahel’s ecosystem. 9 That these groups do not have access to water is made all the more troubling by the fact that one of the many tasks they are forced to undertake for their masters is fetching water from wells and other drinking sources. 10 In one case, a Haratin family in Mauritania escaped from slavery and settled near a water source, demonstrating the vital importance that access to water holds for these communities.