The High Price of Gold

“The High Price of Gold” documents the plight of women and children living in the mineral rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who have been driven off their land by militias who repeatedly rape them. They have been forced to work at gold and other mines in conditions of slavery in order to protect themselves from rape. They are caught in the crossfire of competing militias on the ground who launder the minerals and smuggle them out of the region to be processed for manufacture by ‘respectable’ corporations. The women and men in the region were never very interested in these minerals before conflict with neighbouring Rwanda in the late 1990s unleashed the greed for these riches. They lived peaceful lives and the women were content to farm their land. The irony is that now they are forced to work in the mines in a bid to protect themselves from repeated militia attacks. They play an important role in procuring the minerals for the militias but despite the vast wealth generated by their work they are paid less than a dollar a day and sometimes nothing at all for their toil. Meanwhile the rapes continue. Produced by Diane Taylor & Ross Domoney Directed by Ross Domoney Interviews, research and journalism by Diane Taylor. Filmed & edited by Ross Domoney Assistant editor - Diane Taylor