In the February edition of Geographical, journalist Eleonora Vio takes us into the heart of the DRC’s artisanal mining industry, seen by many as the only way to earn an income in the resource-rich region.
Particularly notable is the rise of female-led organisations that are spearheading the drive towards equality, but for all the progress there’s still a long way to go before the nation’s women will be treated as equals. In the video below, Vio and photographer Ines Della Valle document the hardships and abuses faced by the ‘mama twangaise’ – the women labouring on the front lines, performing the most arduous and health-damaging of work.
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Vio and Della Valle have also produced a deep-reaching interactive microsite on the world of female mining in the DRC, exploring the people working to enact change, the issues still being faced by those in the mines, and the slowly-changing culture surrounding the industry.
Click here to take a deep-dive into the subject.
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