Friday September 11, 2009
The rape of young Penan girls
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 confi rmed 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.
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