Human rights and manual scavenging

Manual scavenging is manual removal of excreta (night soil) from “dry toilets”, i.e., toilets without the modern flush system. Manual scavenging involves the removal of human excreta using brooms and tin plates. The excreta are piled into baskets which scavengers carry on their heads to locations sometimes several kilometers from the latrines. The right to be free from manual scavenging is an economic, social and cultural right and it imposes obligation on the State to abolish manual scavenging system and give relief and rehabilitation to the manual scavengers and their dependents by adopting suitable initiatives.