The ILO recently published a study highlighting child labor in the mining industry. Not only are a million or more children continuing to be forced to work in mines, but the reports shows a great number of them are girls. Children who are forced into hard labor is never a subject to be taken lightly, however some may argue that this is its worst form. Using young girls to work in mines, placing them at risk for permanent injury from carrying heavy loads and nerve-damage from mercury exposure.
The ILO report, entitled Out of Sight – girls in mining, compiled research findings from Ghana, Niger, Peru and the United Republic of Tanzania. The report is the first of its kind to highlight the use of girls in small-scale mining. The ILO is now bringing attention to the issue, and for the first time publicly presented the issues at the Conference on Communities and Artisan; Small-scale Mining (CASM) held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on September 7-12, 2007.
The fact is that girls are often overlooked in all areas of development, and child labor, especially mining, is no different. Thus, these assumptions and gender roles in the small-scale mining communities, are now being challenged by the ILO. The ILO illustrates in the report that it is girls, not boys, who are given longer hours, larger work loads, and have an even smaller chance at obtaining an education. Girls are also more prone to withdrawal and recieve less rehablitation. The fact is that girls work in conditions that are just as dangerous as boys, and inside the mines gender does not permit you any favors.
"Poor understanding of the issue translates into poor intervention", explains Susan Gunn, child labour expert for IPEC who commissioned the report. "Policies and action programmes that address small-scale mining issues ignore the fact that there are children working there exposed to the same or even greater risks than the adults and that many of them are girls. Consequently, girls miss out on the benefits and social support that the programmes provide."
Children who work in the mines are denied their right to an education, with no opportunity to attend school, life outside of mining looks bleak.However mining by young girls is not limited to the countries in the ILO report, and the use of girls occurs in some form in all counties with child labor in the mines.
Sudha, a young Nepalese girl, has worked as a stone crusher in a mine, since she was only 12. “She’d prefer to be at school, but now believes it is too late to start her education. When asked why she continues to do the dangerous work, she says simply: “There is no alternative.” (Lightening the Load of Child Miners).” Sudha, like so many other children is forced to work in hash and unbearable conditions, for a meager wage, just to help her family…a family which still remains impoverished, despite her toils.
