A/HRC/12/24 page 24 2. Quality 72. Sanitation facilities must be hygienically safe to use, which means that they must effectively prevent human, animal and insect contact with human excreta. Sanitation facilities must further ensure access to safe water for hand washing as well as menstrual hygiene, and anal and genital cleansing, as well as mechanisms for the hygienic disposal of menstrual products. Regular cleaning, emptying of pits or other places that collect human excreta, and maintenance are essential for ensuring the sustainability of sanitation facilities and continued access. 73. Sanitation facilities must also be technically safe to use, which means that the superstructure is stable and the floor is designed in a way that reduces the risk of accidents (e.g. by slipping). People must be enabled to use them safely at night, whether through lighted paths, flashlights, or other measures. Furthermore, special attention should be paid to the safety needs of persons with disabilities, as well as the safety needs of children. Maintenance is crucial to guarantee technical safety. 74. Ensuring safe sanitation requires adequate hygiene promotion and education to encourage individuals to use toilets in a hygienic manner that respects the safety of others. Manual emptying of pit latrines is considered to be unsafe (as well as culturally unacceptable in many places, leading to stigmatization of those burdened with this task), meaning that mechanized alternatives that effectively prevent direct contact with human excreta should be used. 3. Physical accessibility 75. Sanitation facilities must be physically accessible for everyone within, or in the immediate vicinity of, each household, health or educational institution, public institutions and places, and the workplace. Physical accessibility must be reliable, including access at all times of day and night. The location of sanitation facilities must ensure minimal risks to the physical security of users. This has particular implications for the path leading to the facility, which should be safe and convenient for all users, including older people and persons with disabilities and it must be maintained in this state. Moreover, sanitation facilities should be constructed in a way that minimizes the risk of attack from animals or people, particularly for women and children. 76. Sanitation facilities should be designed in a way that enables all users to physically access them, including, especially, those with special access needs, such as children, persons with disabilities, elderly persons, pregnant women, parents accompanying children, chronically ill people and those accompanying them. Considering the needs of these groups would have implications for the entrance size, the interior space, hand rails or other support mechanisms, the position of defecation, as well as other aspects. 4. Affordability 77. Access to sanitation facilities and services, including construction, emptying and maintenance of facilities, as well as treatment and disposal of faecal matter, must be available at a price that is affordable for all people without limiting their capacity to acquire other basic goods and services, including water, food, housing, health and education guaranteed by other human rights. Water disconnections resulting from an inability to pay also impact on waterborne sanitation, and this must be taken into consideration before disconnecting the water supply.