Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim will most likely visit the Penan community in Baram, Sarawak after Hari Raya to discuss the implementation of the ministry's recommendations to address sexual assault against Penan women.

women awareness campaign 140713 sabariah hassan The ministry's deputy secretary-general (operations) Sabariah Hassan said this in response to queries about the minister's commitment in solving the problems faced by the Penan.

“I think (Rohani will visit them) after Hari Raya. We will inform you when she visits,” she told a press conference at the Women Street Crime Awareness Campaign at the Great Eastern Mall in Kuala Lumpur today.

Sabariah who was standing in for Rohani said the women's ministry is not planning on any excursions into rural Baram Tengah due to the upcoming by-election in Kuala Besut and this month being Ramadhan.

In June, five Penan representatives had travelled to Kuala Lumpur to seek Rohani's aid in expediting efforts to improve the livelihood of their community, but Rohani was abroad at that time.

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

Four year wait

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

A special task force was set up by the women's ministry  to investigate following claims by international and local NGOs that Penan women were often subjected to sexual abuse by loggers in Sarawak's interiors.

Following the investigations, then women's minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil had announced in 2009 that the allegations were true .

The task force's report was finally released 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 task force to prevent the problem from recurring. However, progress has been very slow.