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Women and Gender Roles in ASM
Although mining is often perceived as men’s work, women are instrumental participants in ASM across the globe. Women make up approximately 30% of the world’s artisanal miners, making up between 40% and 50% of artisanal miners across Africa, and in some African communities representing nearly 70% of the workforce. In nearly all regions, women are more prevalent in ASM than in traditional large-scale mining.
Men and women often have different roles in extraction itself, but women also play key support roles to their families and communities, providing goods and services and often singlehandedly managing the domestic household tasks.
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| Spheres of Women’s Involvement
Women are often involved in numerous activities related to ASM, which take place in a variety of locations, from mines to homes.
- Mining and processing: Women’s roles, working conditions, and empowerment in mines vary by country. Women are often involved in extraction and processing of minerals; while sometimes involved in digging, women are also frequently responsible for transport or processing of minerals. Women often conduct processing activities in the home, exposing women and their families to harmful chemicals, with minimal protection, in confined spaces.
In some areas, women work longer hours than men, but earn significantly less, and in other countries women are small scale mine owners. Payment is often irregular: as payment is based on delivery of product, men and women may work all day, but earn little profit; women, however, are often still responsible for work and responsibilities at home. Men often spend their income outside the home, so families often depend on women’s income to provide for family necessities. Women may work extreme hours, including at night, and while heavily pregnant, with no benefits or security.
Small scale mining tends to be unsafe compared to larger scale mining: small-scale artisanal miners use less protective gear, and mines are less regulated, have poorer infrastructure and may be more dangerous. In all of these tasks, women are often exposed to dangerous conditions, and harmful chemicals.
- Providing goods and services: Women often work in goods and service provision in mine areas, from working in restaurants to working in brothels. Women often take on service tasks to supplement income from mining activities. Women and girls often work in the sex trade in mining areas, catering to men who migrate alone in search of work, and are paid in cash. STD infection rates are often high in mining communities; in one mining area of Kenya, at least 70% of women reported having an STD.
- Household management: Women who work in the mines, as well as those working primarily in service tasks, are typically also responsible for managing households, and performing all related domestic tasks. This can create a significant time burden on women who are also trying to earn income outside the home.
In many cases, women also work in several capacities, such as mining and/or processing during the day and working in restaurants or as sex workers at night.
Impacts of Overlooking Women’s Experiences
ASM can lead to positive changes for communities involved. Artisanal mining provides income generation opportunities that may lead to positive outcomes for the entire community. Where women have the opportunity to earn income, evidence demonstrates that they more often spend this money on the health, education, and nutrition of the families, as compared to men, meaning that with increasing access and participation for women, the circle of positive impact grows. Where women are able to participate in ASM, and control their income, women’s empowerment often grows, and communities prosper. In some countries, women have even become mine owners and operators; in Colombia, where women are have become recognized entrepreneurs, and have developed innovate processing techniques.
Development practitioners often design programs to promote and facilitate the positive impacts of ASM. However, where women’s roles and gender relations are not adequately understood, these programs may overlook a key group of participants in ASM, and undermine their own effectiveness to bring about change. For instance, in many communities, women’s participation decreases as the size and scope of mining projects increases, meaning that technical assistance programs designed solely to increase the size of mining operations may adversely affect women. Programs that incorporate women into decision-making, and incorporate local strategies and techniques may be the most effective for insuring maximum development impact for all stakeholders.
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