International Women and Mining Netword

RIMM Statement

We are the International Women and Mining Network having members who are women affected and displaced by mining and women who work in mines or live in the mining regions and human rights organizations concerned with gender justice issues in mining. We have created an international platform for ourselves as our voices from the mine pits and from the remote hills, forests and deserts we hail from, need to be heard all over by the world to understand that extraction and processing of minerals has serious negative impacts on women and communities, which are invisible.

As women workers, as communities and as indigenous women we challenge the exploitative global economics, policies and mining practices. We want to collectively define our perspective of sustainable development and utilization of the world's resources and to rebuild our lives and identities, which are being destroyed by the mining industry.

We demand for gender justice and gender sensitive policies with respect to mining in all our countries. In togetherness we reassert our commitment to the "Pact for Life" to bring peace and justice for all our sisters and children suffering due to mining.

The global and national policy frameworks imposing the processes of trade liberalization, privatization and deregulation pushed by institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development banks, implemented by our weak and complicit governments at national and local levels in the interests of transnational corporations and the private mining industry have completely undermined the larger common needs and development of society and the health of the planet.

We state that mining has serious negative impacts on women's lives, livelihoods, social and cultural status, physical and sexual rights, ecological spaces, access to and control over natural resources, legal and customary rights and traditional knowledge systems. Mining has also generated serious development myths, which we challenge from the gender perspective.

We reassert our respect for the earth, our natural resources, our uniqueness, diversity and commonality. We want to lead healthy, peaceful and productive lives that will promote human well being and ecological richness. We want the participation of women in positive economic activities and sustainable livelihoods.

RIMM Resolutions on Indigenous Women's Rights and Mining

RIMM recognizes the experience of indigenous people that the exploration and exploitation of minerals and metals has brought serious social and environmental problems, so widespread and injurious that such development cannot be described as 'sustainable'.

Therefore, RIMM asserts its commitment and solidarity with the Indigenous People's Declaration on Extractive Industries from the Oxford Indigenous People's Workshop, the Kimberley Declaration of Indigenous People to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 and the International Labor Declaration Convention No.169.

We demand for recognition and respect for the call given by indigenous people for a moratorium or ban on new mining projects and the expansion of existing projects that may affect indigenous people. Until governments and companies have shown accountability towards projects implemented so far and that mining is the only resort to economic development of these communities where they have a better quality of life than what exists or may exist, indigenous peoples' assertion against mining in green-field areas must be respected.

We demand that governments, the mining industry, international financial institutions and existing international laws must recognize indigenous people's citizenship and the individual and collective rights of indigenous people and women to self-determination, to ownership and control over their lands, natural resources and territories.

The rights of indigenous people and women to free prior and informed consent, that such consent is not a static one-off process but is required for the life of any mining project, must be fully respected. No indigenous people or women should be forced out of their lands for the sake of mining either by the industry or by governments or international financial institutions.

We support the rights of indigenous people and women as owners and stakeholders to mineral resources under their land and territories and if mining should exist, communities must have the first right of exploiting the mineral resources.

We demand the recognition of artisanal, traditional and community mining where women play an important role and demand that governments provide economic support, development facilities, technology interface, safety measures, training and market linkages to women who are in this sector.

Households headed by women should be recognized and treated in the same way as that of men with respect to decision-making, compensation and rehabilitation.

Transnational mining companies must not be allowed to implement projects, use processes and commit violations in indigenous people's lands that are prohibited in their own countries.

RIMM Resolutions with Respect to Women Mine Workers

Mining is the most unfriendly and gender unjust industry towards women, excluding them from formal and organized sector work participation. Privatization and liberalization have completely marginalized women in the mining industry by large scale retrenchment and denial of employment. Mining today, is providing only casual, contract or daily wage labor opportunities for women in the informal sector where legislative protections do not exist and collective bargaining through unionization is almost impossible. Most often their only source of livelihood from mining is as illegal scavengers or as 'payiris'. Free trade has led to women and children working in very inhuman conditions without any economic remuneration or work safety or social security. Women mine workers are exposed to high levels of pollution and toxic substances at the work place and are especially employed in the more hazardous and polluting sections of the mining operations. Mining has caused irrevocable illnesses like silicosis, tuberculosis, asbestosis, chronic, debilitating, terminal and reproductive health problems which are deliberately suppressed by the industry, ignored and neglected by our governments. Therefore, RIMM supports the rights of women mine workers and demands that,

Mining companies must immediately cease the retrenchment and marginalization of women mine workers and end contracting or bonded labor work for women.
Women mine workers be provided proper employment in the formal and public sector.
Women must have protective labor safeguards where they can defend themselves against exploitation of the industry, contractors, mine-owners and male workers.
Women mine workers must be provided with proper work gear and safety equipment that are suitable and designed for women.
Women mine workers must get equal pay for equal work of equal value, property rights in cooperatives and a safe and healthy work environment that is free of discrimination, violence and sexual abuse.
Women must have access to educational opportunities on par with men in mine engineering and related fields.
Maximization of work opportunities for women, not just in traditional jobs allocated to women but training and transferable skills must be provided for non-traditional jobs.
Child labor in all mining activities must be banned and governments must guarantee progressive development of mine workers and their children to eliminate child labor not merely as a law but to provide an economic security where mine workers are not forced to push children into mine labor.
Women mine workers have the right to have a mandatory women's committee which is recognized by government and companies and that has full decision making power for women workers concerns.
Women workers must be given adequate maternity and child care benefits both at the home and the work place

RIMM Resolutions for Protection of Environment

The environment and health of women and local communities have been detrimentally impacted by mining activities for hundreds of years. Such impacts include contamination of our rivers, oceans, land, fresh water bodies, and air through toxic emissions and tailings ponds of the mining industry. Mining companies do not take responsibility for maintaining the health of the environment throughout the cycle of mining and neither do they have proper disaster management or mine management plans that are liable for public scrutiny. Denial and suppression of environmental impacts has been the history of mining in the world.

We demand that the precautionary principle must apply in its most stringent form to all mining operations given the disproportionate environmental and health impacts on women.
We demand the immediate cessation of liberalization and privatization of our environment, water and natural resources and companies using political clout for modification of laws that protect them.
We demand for a gender impact assessment and audit of all new and current projects.
We demand that mining companies and governments acknowledge the environmental risks of their projects and give accurate and detailed information to public and communities before undertaking new projects.
Environment impact assessments must be undertaken by independent bodies and must have proper representation of all stakeholders including women before they are cleared.
Mining companies must bear the cost of using environmentally sound technologies.
Destructive practices such as riverine tailings disposal, submarine tailings disposal and the mining of sulphide bodies leading to acid mine drainage must be banned.
Companies and government must not undertake mining operations in protected areas such as sacred sites, protected forests, marine reserves, world heritage listings and community forests.
Companies must take responsibility for prevention of contamination, clean-up wastes created by mining activities, and compensate for damages including damages to health of women and communities affected by mining activities.
Companies must be mandated to undertake training for women mine workers on health hazards and precautions at the work-place and home.
Companies must take responsibility for clean-up of abandoned mines and reclaim land, water bodies and other resources around the sites and made suitable for reuse by local communities.