IMPACTS OF MINING ON WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN WELL-BEING



International labour organization (1997) identified that quarry mining is of fundamental importance to the economics of a number of countries especially the developing countries of the world. And also observed at the same time that the very people most impacted by mining have received few tangible benefits, and the group of people most often affected by the consequences of mining operations are women and children. In the developing countries, quarry mining is done either on a large scale or small scale using underground to surface excavation and each method brings untold physical, economic and social effects on its employees, especially women.

            
 Piacitelli, Amandus and Dieffenbach (1990) associated quarry mining with various health hazards that have serious effects on the welfare of women and children. These health hazards range from pollution of the air and water bodies to noise and vibration. The air pollution in mining areas resulting from the release of substances such as nitrogen oxides, sulplur dioxides and other atmospheric particles can cause upper respiratory tract infections in people especially women and children. Noise vibration resulting from the blasting in large scale stone mining operation poses a serious problem for nearby residents. There have been observed incidents in Tarkwa, Ghana, where nursing mothers have had to carry their sleeping babies at their backs wherever rocks are blasted by the mining companies to avoid sound vibrations and being hit by rock splinters ( Adiuku-Brown,2001). Within the small-scale mining sub-sector, several pits created by the miners are left uncovered after use. These pits pose a danger in that rain water accumulates in them and become breeding ground for disease vectors such as mosquitoes which cause malaria. Small scale miners stand the risk of being trapped to death in the pits when they cave in. A study undertaken on small scale mining operations at Tarkwa and its surrounding in 1998, women with babies at their backs were found pounding gold-bearing rocks without any protective clothing (Agyapola; 1998). The high silica content rocks however generate a lot of dust in the process and prolonged  exposure to this dust according to medical experts can cause silicosis and silica-tuberculosis. A study conducted in Obusi, Ghana in 1996 showed that the Kwabrafo River at Obusi in the Ashanti region had 38 times more arsenic than world health organization (WHO) permissible levels, whilst the Timi River at Akrofrom also in Ashanti region has 36 times more arsenic. Small scale mining operations also contribute significantly to the pollution of water bodies in the mining communities. Since most of the rivers in such communities are the source of drinking water for the people, failure by mining companies to provide alternative sources means a burden on women and children who provide water to the household in rural communities. Piacitelli, Amandus and Dieffenbach (1990) noted in their study that dust is the major cause of respiratory problems among miners. Arthritis, is normally present after the age of 50, but even 20 year olds complain of arthritis in mining areas. There is a definite correlation between dust and the disorders. The range of health hazards of women in especially quarry zones varies from simple coughs to thalasemia, silicosis and other fatal ailments (Peter, Gassler and Geyer, 2007).
             
Hahn (1997);Rawait (1998); Chun (2003) noted in their studies that in many unorganized mines, the mine owners employ very young people and because there is a high rate of turnover and retrenchment, any terminal or chronic health problems that the workers might have contracted while working in the mines might  not be traced to the companies by government or researchers. In a study undertaken by National Institute of occupational health (2003) on the quarry mines in India, in Anddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, majority of the mine workers were women and young girls who were retrenched within a few years and were reported to have migrated to Dubai and other places when the mine owners were questioned.
           
Mcdonough and Walters (2001) observed that it is also difficult to medically prove the association of certain mine induced illnesses and diseases as  the unorganized sector labourers keep shifting between different forms of livelihood, like agriculture, construction works, etc, and rarely are available for longitudinal studies. Companies try to hide the true conditions of workers’ health and attribute their illnesses to addiction like, alcoholism and smoking. Hence, silicosis, asbestosis and other respiratory illnesses are medically diagnosed as tuberculosis or other such illnesses incurred by workers from alcohol, by the mining companies and government hospitals so as to deflect correlation to the mine specific pollution and toxicity (Bartley, 2007).
        
Two  and half million men, women, and children in more than 25 African countries are artisanal and small-scale miners(IMF,2005). More Africans depend on artisanal and small-scale mining for their livelihoods. Their working conditions differ depending on geographical (eg. Location),geological(eg.mineral mined), demographic (sex,age),socio-economic(eg. Alternative employment option), and cultural(eg. Taboos) factors etc. .But  they  have things in common in that they live in poor rural areas of developing countries. Most are not formally trained in mining and have received little education in general. While artisanal mining help the rural poor especially women to make a living, it tends to generate negative  effects of environmental degradation, poor health and sanitation, hazardous  working conditions, child labor, uncontrolled migration, and the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases due to an increase in commercial sex work surrounding mines. 
Share on Google Plus

Declaimer - MARTINS LIBRARY

The publications and/or documents on this website are provided for general information purposes only. Your use of any of these sample documents is subjected to your own decision NB: Join our Social Media Network on Google Plus | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

READ RECENT UPDATES HERE