Greatest inventions?
afew years ago, a survey on people from several countries and of different backgrounds, both culturally and educationally, showed a majority believed in the best invention created by a human mind was the ‘western’ toilet, while some considered the use of it ‘haram’, relying on several factors related to health, hygiene, and other matters. the world will soon celebrate the world toilet day to highlight the importance of its role in our lives, and how important it is in the lives of many, especially since there are more than a billion people who do not have it. women in many societies, even in europe, suffer due to lack of public sanitation facilities for women. it is said the lack of public toilets, historically and in the victorian era in britain in particular, was intended to keep them away from public places, and this may still be the reason for the absence of women’s toilets in many cities in the muslim world. a world renowned female architect said the public facilities in america, including education and workplaces, were designed for men only, and women tried to cope with the shortage of toilets in several ways, including drinking less water, controlling urination for longer hours and spending less time in public places. even after a signifi cant increase in the construction of toilets, the available number for men is still higher, in spite of the fact that women are more in need of public toilets than men. there are elderly women with urinary incontinence, women during the menstrual cycle, pregnant women and those who carry babies. japan has made good progress in promoting public toilets for women, but in the underdeveloped countries, the situation is already serious. according to a report issued by unesco one out of 10 girls in africa does not go to school during menstruation. there are more serious consequences on some women who are forced to answer the call of nature in the open. in 2014, two girls in the indian state of uttar pradesh were raped and killed when they went to ease nature. the incident highlighted the problem of sanitation there, and its development is still slow in 90 countries around the world. there are 600 million people sharing the toilet, and 892 million people do it in the open. a report by international water aid organization (iwao) on sanitation in the world in 2017 showed ethiopia is the number one in the world in terms of homes without toilets, and 93 percent of its people lack the basics of sanitation, while india has the largest population of 723 million which live without sanitation facilities. according to the report, 46 million women in ethiopia and 355 million women in india do not have a safe toilet. now, are opponents of the western toilet convinced that it is the best invention in history or have other ideas?