Why gender matters - Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining ...

Section 3 – The gendered nature
of mining impacts and benefits
We know that the effects of mining are experienced in a variety of ways,
depending on a person’s gender, ethnicity, age, class and a range of other
factors. By properly considering gender, Rio Tinto can work to avoid these
negative impacts.
Background reader
This section outlines some of these
impacts, with a particular focus
on women, along the following
thematic lines:
– negotiation and engagement;
– local employment;
– socio-economic and
environmental aspects; and
– special issues: resettlement and
displacement, HIV and small
scale mining.
Negotiations and engagement
Involvement of local communities
in the early stages of mineral
development provides an
opportunity for local people to
influence the development process.
This can include the timing, nature,
scale and even the location of an
operation. Early negotiations also
involve identification of anticipated
impacts and negotiation of benefit
flows, such as compensation and
other payments. However, evidence
shows that women are often
excluded from formal negotiations,
and also from informal processes.
While there are a number of
dynamics at play, exclusion of
women from engagement at the
early stages of project development
contributes to inequitable
distribution of risks, impacts and
benefits (International Institute on
Environment and Development
2002; Macdonald 2002).
While women can be excluded
from formal negotiations, there are
cases where they have used their
agency to influence negotiations,
either formally or informally. Just
because women may not attend
formal negotiations, or have equal
influence, this does not mean that
they are passive. (O’Faircheallaigh
2008).
That said, women are often
excluded from consultation
processes, for a variety of reasons.
They may not be able to attend for
cultural or workload reasons. Public
meetings and other forums may be
held at times that are inconvenient
for women with family and
domestic responsibilities. Or it
may be because the women live
some distance from the mine
itself. Failure to adequately engage
these women also means that their
knowledge is not accessed and
considered in project planning.
For example, if women are not
consulted, sites that are important
to women may not be adequately
protected, or access for women
maintained. The exclusion of
women from negotiations and
compensation can exacerbate
resentment and conflict with, and
within, the local communities.
Local employment
Direct or indirect employment
within the mining industry can
provide opportunities for local
people to increase their economic
status, and that of their family.
Employment can also increase
people’s mobility, skill level and
employability elsewhere within
the mining industry or in other
industries and locations. This is
particularly the case where training
has been provided. The possibility
of jobs can also motivate local
people to complete education.
However, it is mostly men who gain
employment within the mining
industry. Even today some outdated
ILO conventions that prevent
women from engaging in night
work and working underground
have not been rescinded, though
their status is considered “obsolete”
(Politakis 2001: 403).
When men are employed in
waged mining jobs, the division of
labour can be significantly altered,
sometimes very quickly. Empirical
studies continue to confirm the
existence of the gender gap in
the mining workplace. This sees
a system that fails to recognise
the “triple role” of women,
signifying their challenging
combination of work, community
and domestic responsibilities. This
phenomenon relates to mining
as well as many other sectors.
In some communities, women
face increased workloads as they
manage households and family
responsibilities alone for extended
periods, such as when partners
are on long distance commute
rosters. If men are injured at work
it is usually women who carry the
burden of injury in the domestic
sphere, particularly in countries
with poor health systems and
services. There are opportunities for
companies to consider contingency
arrangements for situations such
as mine accidents in employment
contracts, particularly in vulnerable
communities. When women are
employed in mining, or other
industries, they are often expected
to maintain both traditional
domestic and agricultural roles and
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