CommuTalk Reporter
GWERU – Women are lamenting over increased Gender-Based Violence and inequality in the small-scale mining sector, the Zimbabwe Gender Commission has said.
Speaking during a Great Dyke Alternative Mining Indaba, Zimbabwe Gender Commission Regional Programmes Coordinator Memory Muchenga-Chikonyani said a lot of issues were coming up in the mining sector.
Muchenga-Chikonyani said women are crying out loud over the unavailability of equal opportunities as well as GBV in the mining sector.
“They are being found selling jiggies (children’s snacks), but the actual mining is a preserve of those who have resources. Those who do not have, do not know where to start,” she said.
Muchenga-Chikonyani said girls and young women in the mining sector were also saying they are disproportionately affected more than boys or their male counterparts because they have resources and energy while others have said GBV is rife as a result of negative stereotypes.
“They are saying can we have technical expertise on how we can do the mining as women within the mining sector value chain.”
“They tell you that if you are to get into mining you must have a thick skin because you are labelled a prostitute, which is just a stereotype,” she added.
Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises official Sheunopa Moyo confirmed that they had detected several GBV cases in the mining sector.
“When women hear or see the violence in the mining sector, they turn back to say that is not for us,” he said.
Moyo said the ministry wants to inculcate an environment that is conducive for women to participate in mining activities at the same level with their male counterparts.
Zimbabwe Council of Churches former supervisory council member Bishop Emeritus Naison Shava said The Bible and the national constitutions, which are complimentary both talk about equitable sharing of natural resources.
“We have said many times and in different vocabulary in all languages that Zimbabwe our motherland is very rich in natural resources, but why is it that people cry every day year after year.
“It all calls for the Church and all stakeholders to identify their mandates and roles to effectively work for lifesaving management of natural resources, economic and social justice,” he said.
The Indaba had delegates, who included the Zimbabwe Environment Law Association, community representatives, community-based organisations and people with disabilities among others.
Delegates spoke on the need to curb land degradation and move to cleaner energy without leaving anyone behind.