Mainstreaming gender in the mines: results from an Indonesian colliery

Overview

The extractive industrial sector, increasingly breaking new grounds in developing countries, is increasingly aware of the environmental and community issues involved in mining, including questions relating to gender. However, the main focus is on the impacts of mining on ‘women’ in the community, leaving aside practical issues related to the processes of mainstreaming gender within the company, in the workplace itself. What tools and approaches would be useful for those addressing gender issues in the mining sector, a sector that is still perceived as a masculine area of work? This short paper reports on a practical study undertaken in a privately run colliery in Indonesia. Through this example, it suggests ways in which to take a first step towards gender mainstreaming in the mining sector.