Água às costas e as mulheres

"In Africa and Asia women are generally responsible for collecting water for their families. In rural Africa women often have to walk five miles or more to the nearest water source.
Women often have to wait in turn to collect water, forcing many to leave home in the middle of the night to reach the source when there is no line. Then, when they have collected enough water for their family, they will start the long journey back home carrying their heavy water containers.
The water they collect is
often dirty, polluted and unsafe to drink. It could come from a river or pond or simply just a hole in the ground where animals drink too.

In urban areas, where communities live in slum or squatter settlements
without safe water, women either have to walk long distances to collect water, use polluted sources such as factory outlets or buy expensive water from vendors.

Without somewhere safe and clean to go to the toilet women have more daily problems. When people go to the toilet in the open, human waste is left around which can spread diseases and pollute water sources. In many cultures women have to wait until it is dark to relieve themselves causing discomfort, loss of dignity and sometimes illness.
Walking to remote water sources and places to go to the toilet, often at night, further exposes women to the risk of both sexual harassment and animal attacks.

Constantly carrying heavy water containers, that weigh up to 20kg, on the head, hip or back, has severe health implications. In extreme cases curved spines and pelvic deformities can result, causing  problems in childbirth.

Collecting water takes up valuable time and energy, leaving women unable to do household or income-generating work. 
Illness adds to women’s workloads as they are also responsible for looking after sick children."

Retirado de: http://www.wateraidamerica.org/what_we_do/women_and_wateraid/default.aspx
Mais informações sobre este tema aqui: http://water.org/water-crisis/water-facts/women/.