2015-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2015 Volume 4: Meech Intl. Symp. / Mining Operations
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Veiga MM, Anderson C |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2015 |
| Pages: | 275 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-27-0 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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Women and Mine Development: Capturing Vulnerability Using Open Data and GIS
Alison Stockwell1;1UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, Vancouver, Canada;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 506
Topic: 4
Abstract:
Aboriginal and rural women are among the most vulnerable members of Canadian society and are particularly vulnerable to health impacts associated with the extractive industry (EI) such as increased substance abuse, domestic and community violence and prostitution. Yet, these impacts remain largely unidentified and unmitigated in Canadian federal and provincial EIAs. In British Columbia (BC), EI project proponents, impact assessors, reviewers and communities themselves have open access to robust digital health and spatial datasets. These datasets can be used to identify areas and populations vulnerable to impacts during the EIA process, as well as track conditions over time to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures.
In 2010, community members in north-central BC approached the research team to help them better understand and prepare for health impacts associated with a new open-pit 110,000 tonne/day Copper-Gold Mine. Community members expressed dissatisfaction with how the EIA process captured community health issues such as loss of land, increased traffic, in-migration, impacts on health and social services, crime and violence and the vulnerability of women and youth. As part of this research project, this work seeks to improve how the EIA process captures and addresses impacts to women living in remote communities in BC.
This presentation proposes a tool for better capturing the vulnerability of rural and Aboriginal women living in remote areas to violence and violent victimization associated with extractive projects. This web-based, GIS tool will integrate existing health and spatial datasets to identify areas of BC where violence is endemic and women may be vulnerable in effort for communities, proponents, and government to better plan and implement mitigation measures that address violence. This research is part of the Extractive Industry and Community Health Project funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.