Penan rape victims- ways to protect them

Saturday September 12, 2009 The Star paper.
Penan ‘rape victims’ refuse to talk, say police
KUALA LUMPUR: Efforts by the police to investigate the alleged rape of Penan girls and women in rural Sarawak are being hampered as the victims refuse to talk, said CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin.
“The police conduct investigations within the perimeters of the law and offenders are brought to court only when there is sufficient evidence,” said the CID director in a statement.
Since 1995, the police have investigated 14 reports of alleged rape in Baram. Only four cases involved Penan women – three of them were reported last year.
In January, a task force comprising Bukit Aman and Sarawak police officers was formed to investigate the rape allegations.
The team headed by Comm Mohd Bakri conducted investigations in nine settlements.
The police had asked non-governmental organisations in Sarawak to bring witnesses when they met in January and August, but none had done so.
In Kuching, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said the state government would study the report by the ministry before deciding on what action to take.
Meanwhile, Shelter Home executive director James Nayagam said the fact that the report on abused Penan women and girls took so long to complete, with the abusers still at large, showed the lack of a proper system to protect sexually abused children.
The police excuse that they could not act on the culprits due to lack of details was not acceptable, he said.
“These girls already have babies,” he said, adding that DNA tests could be done to prove who fathered the children
My comments:
I think one way to overcome the problem is to assign female social welfare officer to visit the abused Penan women as soon as report is made. If these girls already have babies, DNA tests could be done and the fathers could be quickly traced. If there are no babies, when reports are made, the victims could be easily tell who are the culprits. Any suspects who frequent the penan area could easily be rounded up for investigation. This will serve as a protection and prevention for further abuse!