Not only the timber companies raped the virgin jungles of their timber logs, their logging workers also take opportunities to rape the native women. Read the story below, extracted from Bruno Manser Fund site.
Penan women from the Middle Baram area of Sarawak are launching a cry of alarm to the international community over cases of sexual abuse by logging company workers in the East Malaysian state's rainforests.
UPDATES:
* November 06, 2008: No proof in claimed of Penan women sexual abused by loggers
* October 10, 2008: Sarawak Police Dismissive On Report Of Penan Girls Abuse
The Penan are accusing workers from Interhill Enterprise Sdn Bhd and Samling Global Limited, two Malaysian logging companies, of harassing and raping Penan women, including schoolgirls. "I want to make it known that we are being sexually abused by the timber company workers on a regular basis", a Penan woman from Sarawak's Middle Baram region said to the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).
According to research undertaken by BMF, the perpetrators are frequenting several Penan settlements in the Middle Baram, looking for women. The company workers are based in logging camps in the region and are usually drunk when they arrive at the villages. "When we hear their off-road vehicles coming, we just leave everything as it is and flee into the forest", the Penan source said. "They come on an almost weekly basis, but the situation is worst during the school holidays when they know the students are in the villages." In other cases, school transports operated by company vehicles had been arranged in such a way that schoolgirls had to stay overnight at a logging camp, where they were abused.
The Penan communities are reporting several cases of pregnancy as a consequence of abuse by company workers. They also accuse the loggers of using armed "gangsters" to intimidate them and of handing out alcohol to the young Penan. Complaints by the Penan to those in charge of the logging camps and to the Police have so far had no effect.
The Bruno Manser Fund is asking the Malaysian government to start a formal enquiry into these serious criminal offences. In particular, the government is being asked to ensure that the victims are protected and that the harassment of Penan women by company workers is brought to an end immediately.
(15 September 2008)
Contacts for e-mail protests (please send a copy to info@bmf.ch):
1) Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations Office at Geneva,
Her Excellency Ambassador Dato’ Hsu King Bee:
kingbee@kln.gov.my
2) Prime Minister of Malaysia,
Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi:
ppm@pmo.gov.my
3) Royal Malaysian Police Headquarters:
rmp@rmp.gov.my
4) Miri Resident (Representative of the Sarawak Chief Minister in the Miri Division),
Mr. Ose Murang:
osem@sarawaknet.gov.my
5) Interhill Enterprise Sdn Bhd:
interhil@streamyx.com
6) Samling Global Limited
enquiry@samling.com
PROPOSED E-MAIL TEXT
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Dear Ambassador (Prime Minister / Inspector-General of Police / Resident / Sir or Madam),
I am writing to express my concern about the recent reports of sexual
violence against Penan women in the Baram River region of Sarawak by
logging company workers.
I have the firm conviction that these perpetrations are grave human rights
violations that cannot be tolerated.
I kindly ask your government (company) to start a thorough enquiry into the issue
and to ensure that the victims are protected and that the harrassment of Penan women by logging company workers will come to an end immediately.
Yours faithfully
(Name / Place / Country / Date)
IMPORTANT: PLEASE SEND ONLY POLITE E-MAILS. OTHERWISE THEY WILL BE COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE.
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Original Source: Penan women denounce sexual abuse by loggers
MalaysiaKini: 'Sexual abuse of Penan women': Company in the dark
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3 comments:
There are hardly any entertainment when working in the interior. Man will always be man
what is that suppose to mean?
Borneo Falcon failed to realize that the Penan women was victimized.
Working in the interior with access to modern entertainment does not means you can abuse the women.
MD
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