RETHINKING WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN MINING COMMUNITIES

The Sustainable Development Goal ‘5’ entreats all nations to end all forms of discrimination against all women, as well as give women equal rights to economic and natural resources.

However, violence against women in mining communities is currently one of the most prevalent human rights violations in Ghana.

Generally, mining activities affect both men and women in one way or the other but a critical analysis of mining impact on communities has revealed that women are severely impacted upon more than men.

A degraded environment and loss of biodiversity due to mining activities have been found to have more repercussions on women and their economic activities in rural Ghana because most women depend on standing forest for their livelihoods.

In addition, the payment of compensation to men on behalf of families denies women’s access to and control over the financial benefits of mining. The situation perpetuates the dependence of women economically on men; disabling women, skewing gender relations and exacerbating existing inequalities.

Empirical studies conducted by ANOKS Research in mining host communities have confirmed impact differentiation of mining operation on men and women. The differentiation revolves around inequity in access to resources, unbalanced representation in negotiation and decision-making process, disparities in the attribution of compensation, unbalanced sharing of responsibilities and cost bearing.

Most campaigns to change destructive mining practices typically focus on protecting the natural environment leaving behind one of the most significant aspect, which is gender concerns. As a consequence, proposed solution to the problems generated by mining operations frequently fail to adequately address the needs of women, which are often quite different from that of men.

In the context of a growing trend of women's rights violation in mining communities, an effective platform is needed to frequently engage women to learn, monitor, report, and facilitate response to violent threats to women's rights in mining communities. Through this early warning system, authorities would be able to contribute to the mitigation of women's rights abuse and also provide timely concise and evidence-based information to relevant stakeholders for action.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it.