IN response to the Bruno Manser Foundation report of alleged exploitation of Penan women in Sarawak, we, the members of the Malaysian Association of Social Workers, fully support the many justified calls for an urgent and competent investigation by the relevant authorities.

We welcome the setting up of a task force by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to investigate the extent of the problem.

We also agree with Ivy Josiah, director of Women's Aid Organisation, that the task force should include indigenous women. It is important to have investigators who speak the mother tongue and are culturally sensitive and professionally respectful of the needs of these abused women.

The act of intervening should not just be one of visible action but a competent process of identifying and managing the problem appropriately and effectively within the cultural context of the Penan community.

It would be necessary to involve the Indigenous People Network of Malaysia and also the Sarawak Women For Women Society and Sarawak AIDS Concern, along with government officials.

While there is an urgent need to intervene at the tertiary level, which is ensuring that direct assistance is made available to the abused women, there is also the necessity to deal with the issue at the secondary level.

This involves identifying the perpetrators and ensuring they are no longer able to continue abusing the women and will face legal action.

At the primary level, intervention has to focus on the prevention of further abuse and the maintenance of rights of indigenous groups in vulnerable social, economic and geographical situations.

This poses a real challenge in view of geographical accessibility and infrastructural limitations.

At this level, it would be necessary for the government to hold dialogues with Suhakam, and indigenous groups to map out plans for preventive measures to be put in place.