Female miners seek end to sexual harassment, GBV in Nasarawa 

The Women In Mining In Nigeria, in collaboration with Ford Foundation, has called on the Nasarawa State Government to urgently intervene in the issues of sexual harassment and Gender-Based Violence in the state.

WIMIN is a non-governmental organisation committed to promoting women’s inclusion at all levels of the Nigerian mineral exploration and mining sector, with programs rooted in community engagement, research, capacity building and strategic dialogue.

Speaking in Lafia on Monday at the opening of a 3-day training for Service Providers on Sexual Gender-Based Violence, the President of WIMIN, Janet Adeyemi, lamented the increasing cases of GBV and other issues affecting its members and females across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state.

Adeyemi, who was represented by the Vice President of the NGO, Regina Edzuwah, explained that female rights had been the most abused and neglected despite the several campaigns launched to create awareness on the matter.

While narrating that the training program tagged “Eliminating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Mining Host Communities,” was aimed at finding solutions to GBV affecting females, Adeyemi decried the continued sexual exploitation and harassment being meted on female miners in the state and Nigeria at large.

She said, “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.

“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.”

She added that the training program would cover various critical topics including understanding Sexual GBV, cultural and social norms influencing Sexual GBV, root causes and risk factors, legal framework and policies, survivor-centred approach, and trauma-informed care.

Adeyemi said the training was designed to enhance the capacity of service providers, including healthcare professionals, law enforcement officers, social workers, and community leaders, to provide effective support to Sexual GBV survivors and to promote a coordinated community response.

While lamenting that over 90 per cent of WIMIN members had been sexually harassed by their male counterparts in the last year, Adeyemi appealed to the service providers and stakeholders to show commitment to the fight against GBV and sexual exploitations in their respective workplaces and communities.

On her part, the Director, Public Defender at the Nasarawa State Ministry of Justice, Justina Allu, decried the issues of sexual harassment, sexual molestation and gender-based violence in the state, adding that the ministry, through her office had handled over 50 cases in the last six months.

She further commended the Women In Mining In Nigeria for organising the 3-day training program aimed at building the capacity of providers and stakeholders to tackle the issues affecting females in the state.

Earlier in her speech, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Ibrahim, represented by the Director, Women Affairs Department of the ministry, Matayashi Aselema, welcomed the members of WIMIN and other stakeholders to the training program.

She further reiterated the state government’s commitment to continue to address the issues affecting women in the state, including sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

One of the participants who spoke on behalf of the others, Patience Sampson, thanked WIMIN for the opportunity to learn more about how to tackle the issues of sexual harassment and GBV while promising to put all that they will learn into practice.