It is not exactly a barong, but what is it?

[Conogre]

While the full sized barungs are most deffinitely slashing weapons, the thinner blades and reduced thickness of the small versions would make them equally well suited as slashers/stabbers, with the blades comparable to the small gunongs originally thought to be assasination pieces.
This is what made me think of them as a woman's protection knife, where the main object is to inflict enough damage to escape with her "honor" intact, rather than to kill outright.
In many areas, particularly those of fundamentalist muslim influence or antiquited Christian mores , once a woman is violated, it was and sometimes still is considered her "duty" to commit suicide to avoid bringing dishonor upon her family or clan.
I've run accross this attitude in today's world here in Florida in people of the "old country" that regularly travel between the two, such as to visit relatives, and was amazed at the vehemence towards surrendering "women's knives" in relation to current post 9/11 airlines regulations.
As I said, I may be way off base, but encountering such has opened my eyes towards the possibility of a weapon in contrast to the way a "civilized" westerner might view it in the present.
Mike