News: Sad but true

Sexual Abuse Of Penan Girls And Women True - Shahrizat

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the committee set up to investigate allegations of sexual abuse of Penan girls and women had concluded that such abuse was true.

Shahrizat however said the committee does not have detailed statistics on the number of Penan women who were raped or the actual number of girls who had become under aged mothers after being raped by workers and lorry drivers of logging companies in Sarawak.

She was responding to a question raised by Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-DAP) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, as to the number of Penan women, girls raped and the number of under aged mothers (Under-16) and the action taken on those involved.

Shahrizat said that investigations on the sexual abuse allegations were under the jurisdiction of the police and that a special task force had been formed to spearhead the investigations.

The minister added that the ministry, through the committee, was taking various actions and measures to create awareness among the Penans and also increase patrolling in the affected areas, as well as looking into the transport problems faced by the Penan people.

-- BERNAMA