The development of Cambodia’s extractive industries could result in the unfair treatment of women as jobs in the sector go mainly to men and the risk of women falling into prostitution increases, a new report released last week by the UN Development Program said.
“Poorly managed non-renewable resources can undermine a county’s social development, with women most often paying the heaviest price,” said the report, which comes four months after the UN held an international conference in Phnom Penh that highlighted the risks extractive industries posed to local communities.
For example, as migrant workers enter the country to work on mining sites, prostitution can become a reality for women, the report said.
“The inflow of foreign workers in search of employment, especially single men, and the division of the labor markets generate opportunities for commercial and human trafficking,” it said.
The report also cited evidence of violence against women in areas where extractive activities were under way due to increased alcohol consumption among men.
It went on to say that extractive industries can also jeopardize the land on which women reside, with compensation from evictions often going directly to men–rendering women even more dependent on their spouse.
“This is especially the case in developing countries, where women’s roles are often set by men and reinforced by social norms,” the report said.
Nevertheless, there are some cases in Cambodia where mining companies have encouraged women’s involvement in the extractive industries. Australian miner Oz Minerals has introduced a policy to recruit women and provide them with three months of parental leave.
Still, much work is needed to provide childcare facilities, schools and decent roads in areas where mining activities are prevalent, the UNDP report said.
Officials from the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy could not be reached yesterday.
Richard Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association of Mining and Exploration Companies and managing director of Liberty Mining International, said it was essential for the government to ensure that mining companies correctly carry out environmental and social impact studies so that women were not impacted by the existence of a mine.
If given employment, “Women are more likely to keep the money and do something worthwhile with it,” he said.
For Ros Sopheap, executive director of the Gender and Development Organization of Cambodia, preventing women from falling into sex work was not just a question of creating economic opportunity, but one of male behavior.
“For sex workers it is hard to say not to do that. It depends on if the men decide by themselves that that is what they want,” she said. “We need to work so that society respects women.”
