BY STEPHEN THEN, SHARON LING, LOH FOON FONG, FLORENCE A. SAMY AND R.K. SHYAMALA
Allegations of Penan girls and women being raped and molested by timber company workers in the Baram district in Sarawak have been confirmed to be true.
A special committee set up by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry revealed that at least seven girls and women were raped and molested - confi rming a news report by The Star late last year.
The horror the Penan girls and women went through.
● A girl, 12, was raped by a stranger outside her hostel and by a timber worker when she took a lift in a timber company’s vehicle from her village in Long Kawi to her school in Long Lama. She got pregnant, quit school and married a Penan man.
● A woman from Long Item was raped by a timber worker in 2005 and 2007 and gave birth to a baby girl, now two years old.
● One was raped by an Iban timber worker when she was kidnapped at the age of 13, while visiting her relatives in Miri.
● One was almost raped when she took a lift with her father from a timber company to apply for an identity card.
● In Long Muboi, a student said her 14-year-old friend was molested by a truck driver who gave her a lift to school.
● A 17-year-old girl gave birth to a child and her neighbours claimed that she had sexual relations with the timber workers.
● A group of women said they believed that sex exploitation exists among the Penan women and girls but they were too ashamed to tell their stories.
The Star
Friday September 11, 2009
Panel: Most had problems getting IDs
PETALING JAYA: The national action task force committee that investigated allegations of sex abuse of Penan women in Sarawak found that most of them had difficulty in getting identification documents.
This was due to poverty, the long distance from their villages to town and basic ignorance on the need to get the documents.
It found that many parents were poor and could not provide their children with basic schooling. The lack of transportation had also prevented them from sending their children to school.
The 112-page report noted that health facilities were located far from their settlement and most did not get any form of immunisation and most babies were received by mid-wives.
The committee was headed by then Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen.
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