Minister to meet NGOs on Penan sexual assault report

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim (below) has committed to a meeting with a number of civil rights NGOs to discuss the implementation of the ministry's recommendations made in a 2009 report on sexual assault against Penan women in Sarawak.

In a letter to Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) on June 21, ministry's director-general Che Azizah Che Rashid said that a meeting would commence soon, but she did not stipulate a date.

Her correspondence was in response to a request by WAO on behalf of 36 NGOs who requested an update on the implementation of recommendations made by the ministry's national taskforce to investigate claims of sexual abuse against Penan women by loggers in Baram, Sarawak.

The taskforce was initiated following claims by international and local NGOs that Penan women were often subjected to sexual abuse by loggers in Sarawak's interiors.

The cabinet eventually yielded to pressure by civil society groups to investigate the claims and formed the taskforce on Oct 8, 2008.

The report wasreleased in September 2009, documenting eight cases of sexual abuse involving Penan women by the loggers. Several of the victims were schoolgirls, the youngest being just 10-years-old.

However, NGOs working with the Penan community have claimed that this was just the tip of the iceberg and was not representative of how widespread the problem really was.

Numerous recommendations were made by the taskforce to prevent the problem from recurring, however, progress has been very slow.

This had prompted five Penan women to travel to Kuala Lumpur last week to meet Rohani, but she was abroad at the time.

However, they managed to meet Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and Bar Council officials to highlight their plight.