Mining can be hazardous work, for anyone. But women face specific barriers that men don’t. They get paid less and face discrimination, in laws and in cultural norms. Global data reveals women in most countries earn on average only 60% to 75% of men’s wages However, mining still pays more than other jobs that women traditionally have access to. In Sub-Saharan Africa, seven out of 10 women work in the informal economy, with no benefits like child care, pensions or health care. And women bear the brunt of unpaid care work.
According to the “Women, Business and the Law 2016” report, which collects data about legal restrictions to women’s entrepreneurship and employment, married women like Sanao in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can’t get a job without permission, register a business, open a bank account or sign a contract the same way as married men.