WASHed in stereotypes: A rigorous review of water-gender narratives in LMICs

Over the past few decades, water programs have positioned women as primary beneficiaries, aiming to empower them through improved access and participation. In doing so, several gendered narratives have emerged, widely circulated but seldom interrogated, that continue to shape water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) policy and practice. Despite a growing body of literature on WASH and gender, there is a lack of critical investigation of such narratives and its underlying assumptions. A rigorous systematic review was conducted across five databases to identify peer-reviewed empirical studies published in English between 2015 and 2024 (SDG era). 48 studies from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) were included to assess the assumptions underpinning three dominant water-gender narratives: that gender quotas enable women’s active participation in water committees, that lack of household water facilities puts women at violence risk, and that improved water access leads to time savings enabling economic empowerment. Using thematic analysis grounded in the Gender and Development (GAD) approach, this review takes a deep dive into the empirical basis of the included studies, complemented with wider discussions. Findings revealed a disjuncture between popular narratives and women’s lived realities. Gender quotas often increased nominal representation but rarely translated into active participation or efforts for power redistribution. Narratives that linked water to gender-based violence oversimplified complex issues, while reinforcing patriarchal controls, neglecting women’s right to public spaces and male accountability. Time savings from water fetching linked to economic opportunities rested on several flawed assumptions, ignoring intra-household dynamics and resource gaps. This review contributes to reframing that language by interrogating persistent gender myths and challenging oversimplified, instrumentalist narratives. By critically unpacking these narratives, it calls for more context-sensitive, intersectional, and transdisciplinary approaches to water and gender, reframing expectations from the WASH sector as well as recentering the focus on structural inequalities and lived experiences.