Gender-Based Water Accessibility Inequalities in Halls of Residence at The University of Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Disparity in access to water among different genders in tertiary institution hostels is increasing, particularly at the University of Ibadan. This study, therefore, examines gender-based disparities in water accessibility across undergraduate hostels at the institution. A cross-sectional research design was adopted. A structured questionnaire was systematically administered to 2% (157) of 7,618 residents in the nine existing hostels categorised into male (Mellanby, Tedder, Kuti, Bello, Independence and Azikiwe) and female (Idia, Elizabeth II and Awolowo) halls. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyse the data. The proportion of 71.7% depend primarily on boreholes, while only 21.7% relied on institutional pipe-borne water. Only 40.8% are fetching water within their hostel block, 52.6% are fetching water within the hall premises, while only 6.6% source water outside the halls. Idia and Elizabeth II halls spent more than 20 minutes, while Tedder and Bello spent less than 10 minutes to source water. Idia and Elizabeth II halls had the least reliable water supply, while the male hostels had the highest access to water supply. Access to the right quantity of water per person per day varied across halls and between genders, as the male hostels were ranked first to third positions while the female hostels were ranked fifth, sixth and eighth respectively. Reliability gaps existed between the male hostels with an average score of 266.53, and the female hostels with an average score of 235.52.  The study concluded that water accessibility was structurally biased against the female hostels; therefore, gender-responsive planning is recommended.