Navigating Obstacles, Opportunities and Reforms: Women’s Lives and Livelihoods in Artisanal Mining Communities in Eastern DRC
Publisher: Wageningen School of Social Sciences
Author(s): Marie Rose Bashwira Nyenyezi
Date: 2017
Topics: Extractive Resources, Gender, Livelihoods
Countries: Congo (DRC)
Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as in other countries, has generally been treated as a male affair. This, however, overlooks the fact that artisanal mining sites are key to the livelihoods of many women. Whether they fled from violence or were attracted by the opportunities of the booming mining towns, a significant number of women found a new home in these sites, developing a range of strategies to build a life. Looking more closely at the mining communities, it is clear that there are many women living and/or working there. Some of these women are engaged directly in mining activities (e.g. through panning, gridding, crushing or trading, or through owning a pit or a processing place). Others are indirectly involved in the mining industry (e.g. through restauranteering, selling diverse goods, administration, agriculture or prostitution).
The role of women in mining has increasingly been recognised in the academic literature, as well as by NGOs and government officials. However, especially in the context of DRC, women have generally been seen as a homogeneous group. It is the link between violent conflict and artisanal mining that initially brought women into the picture, as victims of sexual violence and slave labour (Cruz and Hintjens 2015; Free the Slaves 2013; Kelly 2015). Nevertheless, focusing on the mining communities, it becomes evident that women are not only victims. Rather, there is variation among the women living in the mining communities and working in mineral exploitation: Some of these women are able to occupy positions of power, whereas others are exploited. Women actively make their livelihoods in the mines, seeking to expand their room for manoeuvre1 to forge a better living. These women’s situation is very dynamic, as they may change their position over time. Likewise, women have to navigate economic and political changes in their environment.