When Prime Minister Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort, stressethe need for proper sanitation and talked about building toilets, many felt uncomfortable at how "inappropriate" the stage was. But can they refute the reality of open defecation in India? Can they deny that women in our country are still forced to defecate out in the open? Can they honestly say that the dignity of an Indian woman is being upheld when she has to step out late at night or in the early hours of dawn to relieve herself?

Women have carried this mantle of discomfort for decades, silently.

According to WHO and UNICEF studies, almost 48% of urban and 65% of the rural population defecate in the open.