As part of the Somos Tesoro project, many activities were conducted during July aimed at promoting gender equality in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Boyacá, Colombia.

In partnership with the Sogamoso Women’s Secretariat, a workshop on women’s rights and the course of action and care for gender violence was performed with a group of 15 women miners from Tópaga, Mongua, Sogamoso and Gámeza. The methodology consisted of an educational gallery and several participatory dynamics where women identified their rights as women and how to have them respected by means of a course of action and care.

Later on, and also in collaboration with the Sogamoso Women’s Secretariat, a new masculinities workshop was conducted with 35 miners of the same municipality. Here, the miners reflected on the male roles and stereotypes, and on how to accomplish a greater equality both in the ASM sector and within their families. For this purpose, they debated and reflected on the gender relations in ASM, its communities and its families, delving on issues such as infidelity, diverse gender identities, domestic family violence and sexual harassment, among others. Even when, for many miners, these types of dynamics were new, they managed an assertive dialogue in which many prejudices and beliefs were torn down, encouraging a different outlook on masculinity in the mining sector.

Lastly, a workshop for sharing experiences between women coal miners of the Sugamuxi province (Boyacá) and women gold miners from northeastern Antioquia (Segovia and Remedios) was organized. Here, they shared experiences and feelings about what being a woman miner implies and the obstacles they face as a result. This exchange had highly emotional moments, where miners from both regions shared similar perceptions: many of them identified as women miners, also considering themselves to be brave, free, fighters, committed and hard-working women. In regard to the obstacles they discussed, the miners agreed that male chauvinism – common in this industry – is expressed in various forms that prevent them from garnering enough recognition and participation, while exhibiting situations of discrimination, violence, and preventing the access of women to certain jobs. One peculiar thing that they all shared is that they all qualified themselves as proud miners.

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