Occupying the fringes : the struggles of women in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in rural Ghana

  • Francis ARTHUR-HOLMES (Speaker)

Activity: Talks or PresentationsOther Invited Talks or Presentations

Description

Based on field observations and interviews involving 49 women miners in the Prestea–Huni Valley Municipality of Ghana, this paper discusses the on-site challenges of women in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) through multiple standpoint and African feminism theoretical perspectives. It also examines how understanding the struggles of women can reduce their work-related risks and promote gender-sensitive policies for rural women’s empowerment in ASM. The study finds that the struggles of working women in ASM involve cultural marginalization and gendered work patterns, poor working environment, poor work support services for women with children, lack of legal and economic rights, and inter-ethnic discrimination by employers. This paper argues that policymakers, relevant stakeholders, and the government through the district assemblies should collaborate with small-scale mining employers to enhance gender-sensitive on-site regulatory policies, ensure safe working environments for workers, and provide locally appropriate work support services for women in ASM. Further, government and regulatory institutions need to promote gender mainstreaming for ‘inclusion of women’ in the management structure at mine sites and also the extraction and processing stages of ASM.
Period20 Jan 2022
Event titlePolicy and Comparative Development Studies Seminar Series
Event typeSeminar
OrganisersInstitute of Policy Studies, School of Graduate Studies