Nearly a year after, a government task force report has confirmed that Penan women and children in Sarawak were raped and sexually abused by timber workers.
The report by the national task force set up in October last year also found troubling incidents of children as young as 10 years old being sexually abused by the timber companies' truck drivers when they took the children to school.
The task force reported that students were "frequently molested" by the truck drivers.
"In one account, the truck driver molested a 14-year-old's breasts on the journey to school," the report, written in Malay, said.
It said that in another incident, a girl was taken away by the truck driver after the boys were told to get down from the vehicle. Other girls in the truck managed to escape, but were unable to help that one girl get down in time.
In yet another instance, a girl was riding, together with her father, in a timber truck to go to Long Bangan to apply for her identity card. "Halfway through the journey, the passengers were told to alight, but the driver hung on to Mary (not her real name) and sped off. He then stopped the truck, dragged her to a bush by the side of the road and tried to molest her.
"Her father and the other passengers ran after the truck after realising that Mary had been apprehended, and managed to catch up with them and stop any further abuse," the report said.
An interviewee told the task force she had been raped by the timber company's truck driver on her way to a neighbouring longhouse, in addition to being raped when she was 12 outside the school compound by an unidentified man.
"She recalled that the government used to provide vehicles to take them home from school during the term breaks. However, this had been discontinued, so they had to rely on the timber companies as the only means of transportation," the report noted.
In the absence of any viable alternatives such as proper tarred roads or school buses, Penan children who live in the interior are entirely reliant on the timber companies for transport as some of their schools are located four to six hours away by truck.
The report was prepared mostly from interviews conducted by ministry officials and other representatives, including women's groups, in November 2008 when they visited the Penan community in Sarawak. The task force was set up to investigate the allegations of rape and sexual abuse of Penan women and girls in the Baram district.
Surprising release
After close to a year of not wanting to make the report public, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry released a copy of the report to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin on 8 Sept.
"After months of unanswered calls and letters to the minister, I went to see the minister (Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil) yesterday and was informed by her staff that I could collect the report," Zuraida told The Nut Graph over the phone.
The report was subsequently made available to The Nut Graph via e-mail.
No explanation was given by the ministry as to why the report could not be made public initially. The ministry has also yet to explain why it took so long to make the report available to the public despite numerous calls to do so in the interest of public accountability.
Bigger picture
Apart from documenting the individual instances of rape and sexual abuse, the task force also found that the Penan were especially vulnerable because of their low socioeconomic status and lack of access to government and healthcare services.
The factors that cause the community's vulnerability include overdependence on timber companies for transportation and other services, poverty, and the remoteness of their villages.
The report also cited the Penan's distrust of the authorities, and their low self-esteem as a result of prejudices against them.
"All these factors — sexual violations, not having ICs, health problems, dropping out of schools — are closely related to imbalanced development. The lack of roads and public transportation causes the Penan difficulties in engaging with the outside world, including government agencies.
"In order to ensure more balanced development, the involvement of the Penan in matters that affect their lives must be increased," the report said.
The report also made several specific proposals to address sexual abuse, including raising awareness within the Penan community on personal safety, violence towards women, and sex education.
"Teachers in Penan schools would also need to be educated to be sensitive to the specific needs and difficulties faced by the community," the report said.
The task force also proposed for "trusted vehicle drivers" and a pupil management assistant to accompany the Penan children back to their villages. No specific proposals were mooted on how to make it easier for those who have been raped and sexually abused in the Penan community to report such incidents.
Despite the task force's findings, it remains to be seen whether any of the offenders will be charged and brought to justice for the sexual abuse perpetrated on the Penan women and children. Although several police reports have been made, it is unclear whether the police will be investigating the matter
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1. Their big Bosses raped the forest and sucked billions from the State resources in cohorts with the politicians.
2. Their workers have a free hand to rape the women and children of the Natives in their own backyards.
3. And the Government call all these activities 'sustainable logging' and even try to promote and distort the message across the world with their 'Buy Malaysian Tropical Wood' campaign.
4. All happening right here in Malaysia. Wow, how I simply love "Malaysia Boleh".
Why Shahrizat Abdul Jalil took such a long time to release the report so that something can be done? Is she ever concern about these poor girls who could be the same age as her children? Is she also on the take? She is not fit to be a Minister in charge of welfare in the first place. Just take a look at how much she has spent doing up her Ministry and her office. That sort of money could be spent much wisely helping the poor Penans. What has she ever done for poor people when there are still so many who have no access to aids from her Ministry. Shahrizat, you are a fake and many of us could see through you. Abdul Jalil, you have such a horrible daughter.
These Penan are true Bumiputra and yet they are treated like dirt by the State government as well as Federal Govt. Something must be done to protect them and all Malaysian minorities that are constantly being exploited..catch the rapists and send them to jail for a long time...!This is where DNA evidences come in handy in tracing these rapists as there are childrens born out of these rapes...!
I really wish the Penan Chieftain, BRUNO MANSER is around. First dart will be for Taib Mahmud (so that he can join his wife Laila) for allowing his money suppliers to commit the rapes, and the second dart for the Mamee Bitch Sharizat for trying to cover up with the hope Malaysians mudah lupa. She was a minister for women& family matters and now an advisor.
Does she think that only malay cunts needed protection from NEP and not the others'? She is a bitch ain't she? No wonder a little girl dumped her during the last election. People must ensure she is always devastingly defeated, in case she unashamedly seeks candidacy.
And the bastard dogs in blue denied these rapes when the matter earlier surfaced. Were they also trying to cover up (for $$$) or that is their standard of investigation? Is the Chief Dog going to say that the investigation was done by inexperienced policemen? Doesn't all these explain the custody murders (water in lungs lah, found dead in toilet lah, found hanging in the lockup with a mysterious saree lah...).
Isn't the MACC going for the current report investigator? Isn't MCMC going for the online news webs for publishing this?
One whole year for an official report to acknowledge what is common knowledge -that the weak and powerless Penan womenfolk in particular have been raped and sexually harassed.
Then, No further action!
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