By Lin Taylor
LONDON, June 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – At least 17 million women and girls in Africa collect water every day, which increases their risk of sexual abuse, disease and dropping out of school, a study published on Wednesday has found.
It is one of the first studies to calculate how many women and children were responsible for water collection in Africa, the researchers said.
Using datasets from the World Bank, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, researchers found that around 3 million children and 14 million women collect water in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The absolute number of adult females affected by this practice was a shock to me,” Jay Graham, lead author of the study, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“I knew it would be large… but I didn’t realise it would be that high,” added Graham, who is professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University.
The daily practice causes musculoskeletal damage, soft tissue damage and can lead to early arthritis, Graham said.
