Lust in return for rides in Penan country
The ministry’s 111-page report, which was also made available to the Malaysian Mirror, found that the Penans had little access to registration, healthcare and education due to poverty and the remoteness of their settlements.
Honeymah Dylyani, Malaysian Mirror
Logging tracks are the only means of access to their villages. Their schools and clinics are four to five hours away.
They were young Penan girls who depended on timber vehicles to take them to these places.
But along the way, the drivers detour and the girls get molested and raped.
There were, initially, denials and doubts that such incidents occur in the Penan heartland of Ulu Baram in northern Sarawak.
However, an in-depth investigation by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry found that the assaults did take place and victims were always caught in a defenseless situation.
At least eight cases recorded
A special committee set up by the ministry in October last year documented at least eight cases of molest and rape.
Among the cases recorded in the committee’s report are:
– One victim was raped by a timber worker when she hitched a ride in the company’s vehicle to go to school
– Another girl was raped twice – in 2005 and 2007 – by a man she recognized as a timber worker at a logging camp
– A lorry driver groped the breasts of a 14-year-old girl
– A lorry driver tried to molest a group of 10-year-old schoolgirls, but they escaped
The report, which was approved by the Cabinet in May, is available on the ministry’s website.
Members of the task force committee visited many Penan settlements in Long Item, Long Kawi, Lng Luteng, Long Beok and Niah and identified several Penan girls and women who had been sexually violated. Some became pregnant and the fathers of their babies are not known.
Difficult to get details of incidents
“For every case, the committee had difficulty in getting the exact dates of the incidents because the victims cannot remember such details,” the report said, adding that the incidents occurred over many years.
On addressing the sexual abuse, the report called for programmes to raise awareness among the Penans on personal safety, sex education and violence against women.
It recommended the appointment of trusted lorry drivers and student management assistants to escort the Penan schoolchildren between their home and school.
The ministry’s 111-page report, which was also made available to the Malaysian Mirror, found that the Penans had little access to registration, healthcare and education due to poverty and the remoteness of their settlements.
Many Penans did not have personal documents while their children had a high dropout rate.
Minister Sharizat Abdul Jalil said logging companies whose workers are implicated in the sexual assault of the Penans have been identified and their information submitted to the police for further action.
“We will leave it to the police to take the necessary action but we are looking at the rehabilitation of the victims to make life easier for the community,” she told reporters.
Justice for the women
Meanwhile, the PKR women’s wing there should be justice for the girls and women who were raped.
“Even if only one child was raped, we should fight for them. We cannot keep quiet..
“There is a community in which the women folk was subjected to rape and abuse. The government should acknowledge their plight and work towards assisting them,” said PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin.
The Ampang MP added that Shahrizat should organise discussions with women NGOs in the peninsular and Sarawak Zuraida as well as all MPs, including those from the Opposition, to form a plan of action to resolve the situation.
“It’s time that we, the women of Malaysia, unite to help the Penan women and girls.
“Let us all – NGOs and MPs – work together on the Penan case,” she said, adding that Shahrizat and her ministry officers had long neglected the issue.
“They should say sorry, move forward and take steps to correct the situation and cut down on the excuses,” said Zuraida.
She said Wanita PKR will go to Sarawak and discuss with the NGOs there, adding that one NGO was sheltering 16 girls aged 12 to 18.
“We will try to raise funds to
gether with the Selangor state government to help the Penan women.
“The next step is to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak,” he said.
Picketing to protest sexual violations
In a related development, a group of activist picketed at the compound of the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya to urge the Government to take immediate action against the perpetrators of the sex violations against the Penan women.
The incident-free peaceful gathering assembled 27 NGOs who supported the Penans and other indigenous people of Sarawak and Sabah. Among them were representatives of the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), Centre of Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) and Pusat KOMAS.
Jenita Engi, 27, a Temoi indigenous person from Negeri Sembilan, called upon the government to make public the current status of the criminal investigation of the sexual abuse cases.
She said the government should also allocate adequate resources for the investigation and the prosecution of the perpetrators..
She added that the poor situation reflects the overall state of the affairs of the Orang Asal, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia and the in indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak.
“For decades the Penans have been fighting for their survival and have been fighting a losing battle against their ancestral home by loggers.”
“It’s high time for the government of Malaysia to immediately implement actions in promoting human rights in the country and closely monitor the implementation. Only then will the Orang Asal communities be at par with other Malaysians,” said Jenita.
