Bangladesh has had a toilet revolution since 2003


In 2003, 42 percent of Bangladeshis defecated outside. Today, that figure has shrunk to less than 1 percent. The difference stems from rising incomes plus a 13-year campaign in the South Asian nation to increase the availability of real toilets while educating Bangladeshis about the health and security dangers of doing their business outside.
"Once it was our habit to go to the fields or jungles. Now, it is shameful to us," said Begum, a woman who lives in a farming village near the capital of Bangladesh. "Even our children do not defecate openly anymore. We do not need to ask them; they do it on their own." Since installing a toilet in her house, Begum reports her children have been healthier, avoiding waterborne infections.
And children played a key role in the educational campaign, too. They were given whistles to blow if they saw someone defecating outdoors and were encouraged to yell slogans like "Defecating in the open is the enemy of the people" and "No one will marry your daughter if you do not have a toilet at home."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
RFK Jr.: How to destroy vaccination
Feature Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaces all 17 members of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice
-
The god in the machine
Feature An AI model with superhuman intelligence could soon become reality. Should we be worried?
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read