A famous actor in Australia attending the World Toilet Summit in India has expressed lament over the high number of people all over the world who do not have access to toilets.

Shane Jacobson, who is better known as the port-a-loo plumber Kenny Smyth in Australia, described the unequal access to toilets situation in the world as a human rights violation.

He said, "When people talk about equal rights, they think of women having the vote or an equal opportunity for people of all races to get a job. The thing no one realizes is half the world doesn't have access to toilets. That's not equal rights."

The summit opened in India on Wednesday and was attended by more than 40 countries. The UN and the World Health Organization estimate around 2.6 billion people around the world who lack access to a hygienic toilet.

Jacobson starred in the 2006 Australian documentary, "Kenny." He is now filming a show discovering the toilet culture in India, Japan, Sweden and the U.S., only to discover that so many people, particularly women in India, have poor access to a sanitary toilet.

He said, "Women have to hold on till 2:00 to 5:00 am so they can do it in the darkness and go in groups to make sure they are safe and nobody comes. That's not dignity. That's not an equal right."

Jacobson said people make a big deal about their right to vote being violated, but not as much as the right to a sanitary toilet in privacy.

He said, "You only vote once in four years. But you go to the toilet everyday."

He added, "If you don't vote you're missing out every three to four years. In the same time you've missed out more than 1,200 times on the right to go the toilet in privacy."