美国国家公共电台 NPR From California, A Saudi Woman Fights Her Country's Strict Male Guardianship Laws

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Saudi Arabia started allowing women to drive last month. It also detained women who advocated for the right to drive. These mixed signals are being followed closely by a Saudi woman in California who has a lot at stake. She's speaking out against Saudi's so-called guardianship² system that places women under the rule of male relatives, a system that could force her to return to the country. NPR's Deborah Amos brings us this report.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAMERA SHUTTER³ CLICKING)

DEBORAH AMOS, BYLINE⁴: This was the scene when Saudi Arabia issued the first driver's license⁵ to a woman - an official big deal. Cameras whirled. Smiling policemen snapped the moment. June 24 was officially called driving day. Twenty-nine-year-old Samah Damanhoori watched the celebrations from San Francisco. She was thinking about the prominent activist⁶ jailed and smeared⁷ in Saudi newspapers.

SAMAH DAMANHOORI: Well, it's horrifying⁸, and it's very scary what's happening right now in the country. We're still - don't know why, why now. We still don't have clear answers.

AMOS: To her, it's signaled that women drivers and women workers might be part of the kingdom's plan to diversify⁹ the oil economy, but that didn't add up to changing the sweeping¹⁰ guardianship rules, rules that give male relatives control over the lives and actions of even adult women.

DAMANHOORI: Women cannot study, cannot work, cannot even travel without a male permission or a male guardian¹. It's as simple as that.

AMOS: And now we get to Damanhoori's story. When she won a government scholarship for a graduate program in California, her father, her guardian, had to approve her enrollment¹¹, her application for a passport. He had to give consent for her to travel to the U.S. By law, Damanhoori had to have a male relative accompany her to the U.S. It's called a mahram, a guardian in Arabic. She says her father waived¹² the requirement at first, and then, she says, he changed his mind. In a memoir¹³ she wrote for her master's thesis, she recounts the call from the Saudi embassy.

DAMANHOORI: (Reading) Who is your mahram? My father, I said. Where is he - home. Well, Samah, your father called us and asked us to cancel your scholarship because he no longer approve you studying here without a male companion. Is there a conflict going on between the two of you?

AMOS: The Saudi embassy didn't answer an NPR request for a comment. When I called Damanhoori's father, Sameer, in Saudi Arabia, he confirmed he had cancelled the scholarship. That's our custom. He explained that male guardianship laws give him that right. He wants his daughter to come home and forget her education. She decided¹⁴ to stay in the U.S. and cut family ties.

DAMANHOORI: It was really hard at the beginning. I lost myself. I lost the ability to just form a whole sentence. I came from a very strict country to a very free country.

AMOS: Her grad school supported her. She now has a job in high tech. She has also applied¹⁵ for political asylum¹⁶ to stay in the U.S. She says her father has been abusive. He denies that, but he does say that if she returns, he will never give permission for her to leave again. Her claim - the guardianship system puts her in danger.

DAMANHOORI: My story with my father - and what would happen if I go back to Saudi?

AMOS: Now she sees her role as an outside voice for women's rights inside the kingdom. She gives talks in the Bay Area uploaded to YouTube to reach an audience back home. She's found her voice, she says.

DAMANHOORI: The more I spoke¹⁷ up, the more I went in public, and all the noises in my head just became lower. And it's really important for us to speak loud for these women who are being abused to never give up.

AMOS: She's now backed by Women's March Global, an international organization that helps amplify¹⁸ women's voices. Lara Stein is executive director based in New York.

LARA STEIN: It's important to understand what she's given up to step into this role. But she understands that she's one of the few people that is able to have a voice. And I think at the end of the day, it's a very courageous¹⁹ move.

AMOS: Women's March Global has collected more than 200,000 signatures to support the jailed activist in Saudi and delivered the petition to the United Nations. Deborah Amos, NPR News.

1 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

2 guardianship   

n. 监护, 保护, 守护

参考例句：

• They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。
• You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。

3 shutter   

n.百叶窗；(照相机)快门；关闭装置

参考例句：

• The camera has a shutter speed of one-sixtieth of a second.这架照像机的快门速度达六十分之一秒。
• The shutter rattled in the wind.百叶窗在风中发出嘎嘎声。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 smeared   

弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上

参考例句：

• The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
• A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。

8 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

9 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

10 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

11 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

12 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

13 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

16 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

19 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。