The Women In Mining In Nigeria (WIMIN) have expressed concerns over sexual harassment and violations suffered by female miners in various mining sites in Nasarawa state.
WIMIN stated this at the opening of a 3-day training for service providers on Sexual Gender-Based Violence, in Lafia, the state’s capital on Monday.
The body in conjunction with Ford Foundation also expressed concerns over the rising cases of sexual harassment, sexual molestation and gender-based violence in the country, while urging various stakeholders to ensure that the menace is checked.
WIMIN is a non-governmental organisation promotes women inclusion at all levels of the Nigerian mineral exploration and mining sector, with programmes rooted in community engagement, research, capacity building and strategic dialogue.
According to WIMIN President, Janet Adeyemi, nine out of 10 members have suffered some forms of sexual harassment from their male peers in the last one year, adding that the anomaly has become unsettling across mining sites.
In Nasarawa, Adeyemi said, violence against women and girls in the mining sector, is more pronounced in 13 local government areas of the state.
Adeyemi, who was represented by the Vice President of the NGO, Regina Edzuwah, appealed to stakeholders to lend their voices in the fight against GBV and sexual exploitations in their work places and communities.
Women rights have been the most abused and neglected despite several campaigns launched to create awareness on the matter, she added.
Tagged: “Eliminating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Mining Host Communities,” the training was designed to find lasting solutions to GBV affecting females.
Among other things, the training will cover ‘root causes and risk factors’, ‘understanding Sexual GBV’, ‘survivor-centered approach’, ‘trauma-informed care’, and ‘legal framework’.
The training would enhance the capacity of service providers, including social workers, law enforcement officers, healthcare professionals, and community leaders to offer a coordinated community response and effective support to Sexual GBV survivors.
“In most mining sites and host communities in Nigeria, women are constantly abused, misused, over laboured, underpaid, shortchanged and even raped by the male labourers and staff of mining companies,” she said.
“The companies also unlawfully welcome the labour of young children who should not be exposed to the mining environment yet, but should be in school. The children are stretched and over laboured by mining companies and their wages are given to their mothers who are equally on the mining sites.”
The Director, Public Defender at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Justice, Justina Allu, stated that over 50 cases were reported to her ministry within the last six months, while expressing the state government’s commitment to deal with offenders.
