The struggle for water in Indonesia: the role of women and children as household water fetcher

Globally, billions of people are still without access to safe water. Every day they need to travel far to fetch water, and most of them are women. The gender and water fetching issue in Indonesia is under-researched. Hence, this article addresses the spatial, environmental, and socio-demographic correlates of women or children as the household water fetcher in Indonesia. Using data from the 2013 Baseline Health Research (Riskesdas) from the Ministry of Health, we fitted a multivariable multinomial logit regression model (MNLM) to examine the relationship between women and children as water fetcher and spatial, environmental, and socio-demographic characteristics of households. We found that two in five households delegate women household members to carry water. Moreover, women and children are more likely to take the role of water fetcher in rural and less affluent households. Furthermore, the time required to collect water is significantly associated with women as water fetcher in the household. The longer the duration it takes to collect the water, the less likely women, as opposed to men, are the primary water collector in the household. These findings can be used to inform policymaking in Indonesia.