Indian toilet cleaners and New York catwalk

Indian toilet cleaners and New York catwalk

Posted on June 19th, 2008 No comments

Vimla Atwal, 35, and 29 other female toilet cleaners are going to take part in a fashion show in New York. Thanks to a rehabilitation program run by a local firm, Sulabh International, these ladies are participating in a series of events by the United Nations to mark the International Year of Sanitation.

During their stay in New York, the 30 women will present a short film on their lives too.

In India, thousands of low caste Indian women are paid to clear human waste from open-air toilets, as basic sanitation still eludes millions in the countryside.

India’s social welfare department says there are about 340,000 million such toilet cleaners in villages, but social activists say the figure is at least one million. (Photo - Rajni Atwal walks the ramp with a model during a rehearse for a fashion show in New Delhi – Reuters)

Under UN’s Millenium Development Goal target, it hopes to reduce half the proportion of people lacking access to basic sanitation by 2015.

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