When you gotta go, you gotta go. In New Zealand, we are fortunate to have good access to public toilets. This is not the case in America where you would be lucky to find one with only eight public toilets per 100,000 people!
This is a big problem with more than 43.1 million Americans having chronic digestive conditions, more than 3.6 million pregnant individuals, 33 million people with overactive bladders and 37.3 million diabetics. Plus older adults, children, tourists and unhoused people who require access to toilets more often. A high number of American cities do not have public toilets, especially when compared to other developed countries. In New York there are 4 public toilets per 100,000 and in Washington D.C. this is number is 10.
Toilet anxiety is real with many people choosing to avoid going out in public if they are worried they may not find a toilet.
This issue has led people to advocate for more investment in public toilets as this is fundamentally a human right.
You can read the full story by Luz Lazo here.
Illustrations by Elizabeth von Oehsen.
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