On Thursday, Monia Mersni and I headed to talk to women miners in a tungsten mine in the Northern Territory. Women have only recently entered this field, and there is still a lot of bias towards women working in this industry, as many believe this isn’t a job for them, too demanding, too unseemly. And then there’s the pants you have to wear. Many of the women come from poor families, and walk hours to work, both in the morning and on their way home. There are different job opportunities for women and with different income levels at the mine, but the lowest levels pay less than $1 a day. Yet, the women are pleased to contribute to their families, and to have an income which gives them some independence, something they might not have had beforehand.

-Jacobia Dahm