Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
986189 Resources Policy 2009 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

In Burkina Faso, informal mining camps attract girls and women from rural areas because they offer a variety of income generating activities and access to urban consumer goods. Moreover, migration to the mines also allows for a different life-style and greater personal freedom. On the other hand, by going to the mining camps, girls and women risk acquiring a bad reputation in their communities because they are suspected of having illicit sexual relationships. In fact, relationships with gold miners and the material benefits connected with them are among the lures of the gold mines. Thus, from a female perspective migration to the gold mines is fraught with ambivalence, which is expressed in songs performed by female day labourers.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Economic Geology
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