"How can women’s participation in mining improve?"

...In a bid to understand how practitioners and policy makers can ‘increase the participation and empowerment of women working in the mining sector’, Adam Smith International and International Women in Mining looked at Malawi and Sierra Leone’s mining laws and interviewed diverse stakeholders in the sector...The case studies show that women work across the value chain and are more represented in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector. [Itmakes]  number of recommendations centre around the role legislation can play:

1. Simplify the formation process of mining cooperatives and associations and provide accessible guidance to interested parties through mineral agency offices, websites and social media.
2. Ensure women have a voice in community consultations, resettlement and compensation through mining sector regulations that mandate their equal and meaningful participation; and ensure legislative language does not inadvertently prohibit women from receiving compensation.
3. Specify and implement quotas at a legal and regulatory level to support the participation and entry of women into the sector. For example, in local content requirements and mining companies, especially for senior and operational level positions, as well as for educational bursaries, training, and programmes.
4. Extend mining health and safety regulations to specify work places that are suitable for women and to safeguard women from harassment or violence.
5. Require government departments, agencies and companies within the mining industry to record and publish data that is disaggregated by gender. For example the number of women and men employed the roles that they fill, and their average salaries.