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User:JustinePorto/Public toilets in the Cook Islands

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Public toilets in the Cook Islands
Language of toilets
Local wordspublic convenience
Men's toiletsMen
Women's toiletsWomen
Public toilet statistics
Toilets per 100,000 people??? (2021)
Total toilets??
Public toilet use
TypeWestern style sit toilet
Locations???
Average cost???
Often equipped with???
Percent accessible???
Date first modern public toilets???
.

Public toilets in the Cook Islands are few in number and not generally disability accessible. Public toilets are located in different places around the Cook Islands and are required to be connected to sewage systems if available.

Public toilets

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Public toilets in the Cook Islands are generally not accessible to people with disabilities.[1] Public Health Regulations 1987 (28/1987) requires that public toilets be connected to a sewage system if available, and to a septic tank if not available.[2]

Public toilets in Aitutaki were located at the Orongo Center.[3] Public toilets in downtown Avarua in early 2010s were very dirty.  As a result, the local government announced plans to clean and upgrade them.[4] There was a public toilet in Papaaroa in the 2010s, but it was closed for months in 2019.[5]   When the Are Pa Metua at the eastern end of the Punanga Nui Market opened in August 2022, it had remodeled public toilets.[6] The toilets were designed to accommodate 700 users a day.[7] Plans were announced in late 2021 for improvements to public infrastructure in Mangaia.  This included improved public toilet facilities.[8] Public toilets in Raratonga are located at Cooks Corner and the Punganga Niu Cultural Market.[9]

Regional and global situation impacting public toilets in the Cook Islands

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Main article: Public toilet

Public toilet access around the world is most acute in the Global South, with around 3.6 billion people, 40% of the world's total population, lacking access to any toilet facilities.  2.3 people in the the Global South do not have toilet facilities in their residence.  Despite the fact that the United Nation made a declaration in 2010 that clean water and sanitation is a human right, little has been done in many places towards addressing this on a wider level.[10]

Around one in three women in the world in 2016 lacked access to a toilet.[11] The lack of single-sex women's toilets in developing countries makes it harder for women to participate in public life, in education and in the workplace.[12]

An issue in developing countries is toilet access in schools.  Only 46% of schools in developing countries have them.[13] Many schools around the world in 2018 did not have toilets, with the problem particularly acute in parts of Africa and Asia.  Only one in five primary schools on earth had a toilet and only one in eight secondary schools had public toilets.[14]

Homosexual American servicemen sometimes used public toilets in bigger cities in the Pacific during World War II as places to have trysts.[15] In the 1980s and 1990s, many people in the Pacific region had the misconception that HIV and AIDS could be transmitted by using public toilets.[16]

Foreigners visiting the South Pacific in the 1990s were advised to bring their own white toilet paper, and tampons or sanitary napkins as they were not commonly found in the region. Septic systems and any sewage systems were not strong enough in the 1990s for tampons to be thrown into them.[17]

Western style sit toilets are more popular among the emerging middle and upper class around the world.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Le Comité des droits des personnes handicapées examine le rapport initial des Îles Cook". OHCHR (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-20.
  2. ^ Boer, Ben (1996). "Environmental Law in the South Pacific" (PDF). IUCN Environmental Law Centre. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ Stanley, David (2003-08-26). Moon Handbooks Tahiti: Including the Cook Islands. David Stanley. ISBN 978-1-56691-412-3.
  4. ^ "Public toilets in for tidy-up and upgrade". Cook Islands News. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  5. ^ "Why can't public toilets be clean?". Cook Islands News. 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  6. ^ "Are Pa Metua building ready end of Feb". Cook Islands News. 2022-02-10. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  7. ^ "Punanga Nui Market's new toilets open for business". Cook Islands News. 2022-08-31. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  8. ^ "Government works planned for Mangaia". Cook Islands News. 2021-12-14. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  9. ^ Stanley, David (2004-12-03). Moon Handbooks South Pacific. David Stanley. ISBN 978-1-56691-411-6.
  10. ^ Glassman, Stephanie; Firestone, Julia (May 2022). "Restroom Deserts: Where to go when you need to go" (PDF). AARP.
  11. ^ Lijster, Michiel de. "10 Reasons We Should Care About Toilets". blogs.adb.org. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  12. ^ Das, Maitreyi Bordia (19 November 2017). "The tyranny of toilets". World Bank. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  13. ^ Fleischner, Nicki (21 November 2015). "Toilets by the numbers". Global Citizen. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
  14. ^ Associated Press (19 November 2018). "World Toilet Day Highlights Global Sanitation Crisis". VOA. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ^ Guides, Rough (2017-05-01). Tasmania (Rough Guides Snapshot Australia). Rough Guides UK. ISBN 978-0-241-31327-5.
  16. ^ Jenkins, Carol; Buchanan, Holly R. (2007). Cultures and Contexts Matter: Understanding and Preventing HIV in the Pacific. Asian Development Bank. ISBN 978-971-561-618-8.
  17. ^ Stanley, David (1996). South Pacific Handbook. David Stanley. ISBN 978-1-56691-040-8.
  18. ^ Coles, Anne; Gray, Leslie; Momsen, Janet (2015-02-20). The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Development. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-09478-3.
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