SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN SMALL-SCALE MINING IN T’BOLI SOUTH COTABATO

Riceli C. Mendoza

Abstract


This study is situational analysis of T’boli women in mining in Kematu and Desawo, T’boli, South Cotabato, Philippines. A total of 84 women respondents who were involved in mining were interviewed. They were 18-50 years old, married and with a household size of 5 to 10. Many reached elementary level of education. Their role in mining varied from being cooks, stone washers, “banlasera”, sack washers and “unaw”. The cooks bring food to the miners who were usually members of their households. The “banlasera” miners fit their sieves or filters in the water to catch the gold particles present in the flowing water. Those who worked as “unaw” brushed special stones impregnated with gold particles and catch these in a container of water. The sack washers washed the sacks infiltrated with gold dust soaking in the river water. The jobs of the women in mining made them earn additional income for their family; however, they claimed that it was not enough to meet the needs of their households. Related to mining, almost all the women reported that they experienced various ailments like skin rashes, headaches, stomach trouble, skin allergy, cough, colds/influenza, chest pain, diarrhea, stroke and eye irritation. They believed that these ailments were caused by bacteria in the contaminated water, polluted air and sudden change of temperature in the environment (hot to cold or vice versa). Working in the mining area poses health risk because the women were directly exposed to the contaminated water and polluted environment. Looking at their welfare, it is of significant value to make them aware of the proper precautions. Moreover, pregnant women must not be allowed to work in the mining area to avoid health risks to among them and their babies.

Keywords


women’s role in mining, small scale mining, South Cotabato

Full Text:

PDF

References


AFRIM (2012). Alternative Forum for Research in Mindanao Inc. (AFRIM). A background study on the small-scale gold mining operations in Benguet and South Cotabato and their impact on the economy the environment and the community. BANTAY KITA. March, 2012.

Alcantara, A. N. (1994). Gender roles, fertility, and the status of married Filipino men and women. Philippine Sociological Review, 42(1), 94-109.

Andrew, J. (2003). Potential application of mediation to land use conflicts in small-scale mining. Journal of Cleaner Production, 11(2), 117-130. doi:10.1016/ S0959-6526(02)00032-X

Anon. (2003). Mining and Communities. Retrieved from http://www.miningwatch.ca/sites/www. miningwatch.ca/files/Overburdened_0.pdf

Anon. (2015). Role of gender in mining policy. Retrieved from http://www.ukessays.com/essays/sociology/ role-of-gender-in-mining-policy-sociology-essay. php.

Armah, F. A., Luginaah, I. & Odoi, J. (2013). Artisanal small-scale mining and mercury pollution in Ghana: a critical examination of a messy minerals and gold mining policy. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 3(4), 381-390.

Banchirigah, S. M. (2006). How have reforms fuelled the expansion of artisanal mining? Evidence from Sub- Saharan Africa. Resources Policy, 31(3), 165-171. doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2006.12.001

Bashwira, M.R., Cuvelier, J., Hilhorst, D. & van der Haar, G. (2014). Not only a man’s world: Women’s involvement in artisanal mining in eastern DRC. Resources Policy, 40, 109-116. doi:10.1016/j. resourpol.2013.11.002

Bebbington, A., Hinojosa, L., Bebbington, D. H., Burneo, M. L. & Warnaars, X. (2008). Contention and ambiguity: mining and the possibilities of development. Development and Change, 39(6), 887–914. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2008.00517.x

Burke, G. (2006). Opportunities for environmental management in the mining sector in Asia. The Journal of Environment and Development , 15( 2), 224-235. doi: 10.1177/1070496506288219.

Bush, R. (2009). Soon there will be no-one left to take the corpses to the morgue’: Accumulation and abjection in Ghana’s mining communities. Resources Policy, 34(1-2), 57-63. doi:10.1016/j. resourpol.2008.02.002.

Caballero, E. (2006). Traditional small-scale miners: women miners of the Philippines. In K. Lahiri- Dutt & M. MacIntyre (Eds.), Women miners in developing countries: Pit women and others (pp. 145-162). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

Chaloping-March, M. (2006). The place of women in mining in the Cordillera Region, Philippines. In Lahiri-Dutt K. & MacIntyre, M. (Eds.), Women miners in developing countries: Pit women and others (pp. 185-208). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate

Crispin, G. (2003). Environmental management in small scale mining in PNG. Journal of Cleaner Production, 11(2), 175-183. doi:10.1016/S0959- 6526(02)00037-9.

Danielson, L. & Lagos, G. (2001). The role of the minerals sector in the transition to sustainable development. International Institute for Environment and Development. London.

Deb, M., Tiwari, G. & Lahiri-Dutt, K. (2008). Artisanal and small scale mining in India: selected studies and an overview of the issues. International Journal of Mining Reclamation and Environment Reclamation and Environment, 22(3), 194-209. doi: 10.1080/17480930701679574

Dixon-Mueller, R. B. (2011). Rural women at work: strategies for development in South Asia. New York: RFF Press.

Doyle, C., Wicks, C. & Nally, F. (2007). Mining in the Philippines concerns and conflicts. Report of a Fact-Finding Trip to the Philippines. Society of St. Columban, West Midlands, UK, 63pp.

Dreschler, B. (2002). Small-scale mining and sustainable development within the SADC Region. International Institute for Environment and Development, 84, 165pp.

Dutta, M., Sreedhar, R. & Basu, A. (2003). The blighted hills of Roro, Jharkhand, India: a tale of corporate greed and abandonment. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 9(3), 254-259. doi: 10.1179/oeh.2003.9.3.254.

Eveline, J. & Booth, M. (2002). Gender and sexuality in discourses of managerial control: the case of women miners. Gender, Work & Organization, 9(5), 556–578. doi: 10.1111/1468-0432.00175.

Hendryx, M. (2015). The public health impacts of surface coal mining. The Extractive Industries and Society, 2(4), 820-826. doi: 10:1016/j.exis.2015.08.006.

Hentschel, T., Hruschka, F. & Priester, M. (2003). Artisanal and small-scale mining: Challenges and opportunities. International Institute for Environment and Development. London. Russell Press. Ltd, Nottingham.UK.

Hermanus, M. A. (2007). Occupational health and safety in mining- status, new developments and concerns. Journal of the South African Institute of Mining And Metallurgy, 107, 531-538.

Hilson, G. (2002). Small-scale mining and its socio-economic impact in developing countries. Natural Resources Forum, 26(1), 3-13. doi: 10.1111/1477- 8947.00002.

Hilson, G. (2003). The socio-economic impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries. Netherlands: A.A. Balkema, Swets Publishers.

Hilson, G. (2012). Poverty traps in small-scale mining communities: the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 33(2), 180-197. doi: 10.1080/02255189.2012.687352.

Jenkins, K. (2014). Women, mining and development: An emerging research agenda. The Extractive Industries and Society, 1 (2), 329-339. doi:10.1016/j.exis.2014.08.004.

Jennings, N. (1999). Social and labour issues in small-scale mines. Report for Discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues in Small- Scale Mines. Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Kwaansa-Ansah, E. E., Basu, N., & Nriagu, J.O. (2010). Environmental and occupational exposures to mercury among indigenous people in Dunkwa- On-Offin, a small scale gold mining area in the South-West of Ghana. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 85(5), 476-480. doi:10.1007/s00128-010-0141-7.

Labonne, B. (1996). Artisanal mining: an economic stepping stone for women. Natural Resources Forum, 20(2), 117–122. doi: 10.1111/j.1477- 8947.1996.tb00644.x

Lu, J. L. (2012). Occupational health and safety in small scale mining: focus on women workers in the Philippines. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 13(3), 103-113. Available at: http:// vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol13/iss3/7.

Macintyre, M. (2006). Women miners in developing countries. In K. Lahiri-Dutt (Eds). Melbourne, Australia.400p.

Malpeli, K. C. & Chirico, P. G. (2013). The influence of geomorphology on the role of women at artisanal and small-scale mine sites. Natural Resources Forum, 37(1), 43–54. doi: 10.1111/1477- 8947.12009.

Meekers, D. (2000). Going underground and going after women: trends in sexual risk behaviors among gold miners in South Africa. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 11(1), 21-26. doi: 10.1258/0956462001914850.

Mol, J. H. & Ouboter, P. E. (2004). Downstream effects of erosion from small-scale gold mining on the instream habitat and fish community of a small neotropical rainforest stream. Conservation Biology, 18(1), 201–214. doi: 10.1111/j.1523- 1739.2004.00080.x.

Ngahemera, S. (2015, September 07).Extractive industry: only sincerity of World Bank can alleviate small miners’ plight. The African. p. 12.

Purevjav, B. (2011). Artisanal and small-scale mining: gender and sustainable livelihoods in Mongolia. In Lahiri-Dutt K. (Ed.), Gendering the Field: Towards Sustainable Livelihoods for Mining Communities (pp. 197-212). ANU Press. Retrieved from http:// www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt24h9g4.17.

Rapant, S. Dietzová, Z. & Cicmanová, S. (2006). Environmental and health risk assessment in abandoned mining area, Zlata Idka, Slovakia. Environmental Geology, 51(3), 387-397. doi: 10.1007/s00254-006-0334-x.

Santiago, C. (2008). Philippines: country gender profile. Retrieved from http://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_ work/thematic_issues/gender/background/pdf/ e08phi.pdf.

Sevilla, F. (2011). Mining and indigenous people of the Philippines. Retrieved from http://www. engagemedia.org/Members/emnews/news/ mining-and-indigenous-women-in-the-philippines on July 2013.

Spiegel, S. J., Savornin, O., Shoko, D. & Veiga, M. M.(2006). Mercury reduction in Munhena, Mozambique: homemade solutions and the social context for change. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 12(3), 215-221. doi: 10.1179/oeh.2006.12.3.215.

Spiegel, S. J. & Veiga, M.M. (2005). Building capacity in small-scale mining communities: health, ecosystem sustainability, and the global mercury project. Ecohealth, 2 (4), 361-369. doi: 10.1007/ s10393-005-8389-9.

Taabazuing, J., Luginaah, I., Djietror, G. & Otiso, K. M. (2012). Mining, conflicts and livelihood struggles in a dysfunctional policy environment: the case of Wassa West District, Ghana. African Geographical Review, 31(1), 33-49. doi:10.1080/19376812.20 12.690089

The Report of India (June, 2010). Mining and its effects on children, women, Adivasi and Dalits. India Committee of the Netherlands. 3pp. Retrieved at http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/ MiningAndItsEffectsOnChildren.pdf

Tschakert, P. & Singha, K. (2007). Contaminated identities: mercury and marginalization in Ghana’s artisanal mining sector. Geoforum, 38(6), 1304- 1321. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.05.002.

Veiga, M. M. & Baker, R. F. (2004). Protocols for environmental and health assessment of mercury released by artisanal and small-scale gold miners. Global Mercury Project. United Nations Industrial Development Organization . Vienna, Austria. 294p.

Yakovleva, N. (2007). Perspectives on female participation in artisanal and small-scale mining: A case study of Birim North District of Ghana. Resources Policy, 32 (1-2), 29-41. doi:10.1016/j. resourpol.2007.03.002


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


SDSSU Multidisciplinary Research Journal (SMRJ)

North Eastern Mindanao State University (NEMSU)
Research Journal Publication Office
Rosario, Tandag City Surigao del Sur 8300, Philippines

p-ISSN: 2244-6990
e-ISSN: 2408-3577