美国国家公共电台 NPR Why It's So Hard To Stop Women From Sleeping In A Menstrual Shed

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Last August, Nepal enacted¹ a new law to try to keep women safe during their periods. The law criminalizes forcing a woman to sleep outside the house while menstruating, a common practice in the country's west. Danielle Preiss reports.

DANIELLE PREISS, BYLINE²: In the village of Timilsena, Nirmala Upadhyay wakes at 4 to milk the family buffalo³.

NIRMALA UPADHYAY: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: As the sun creeps up behind forested mountains, she and two neighbors walk four miles to sell the milk to shops for sweet Nepali tea. They do this every day except when they have their periods. Then they can't touch the animals or the milk. A belief linked to Hinduism says God can get angry if they touch sacred things, Upadhyay explains.

UPADHYAY: (Through interpreter) The shamans say that if you stay inside the house, a fire could happen, or a tiger could come.

PREISS: Across Nepal, women follow different versions of these purity⁴ rules. Most avoid prayer rooms and kitchens. But here in the west, many don't enter the house at all. God is understood to be inside. So at night, they typically sleep in small sheds. When Upadhyay returned one November morning in 2016, she found her 21 year old sister-in-law, Dambara, dead inside. Her cause of death remains⁵ unknown.

UPADHYAY: (Through interpreter) I think about her when I'm working. I think about her when I'm eating. I think about her when there's a festival going on.

PREISS: Over a dozen deaths have been connected to the practice, called chaupadi. Many have been from women lighting⁶ fires inside the sheds to stay warm. Chaupadi has been illegal since 2005, but this didn't seem to stop it. For one thing, there was no consequence for breaking the law. That changed in August. Anyone who forces a woman into a shed could now face three months in jail or a fine equivalent⁷ to about $30. But Mohna Ansari, with Nepal's Human Rights Commission⁸ in Kathmandu, says no one has ever been charged.

MOHNA ANSARI: Because they are not willing to report against the family members.

PREISS: It's hard to prove a woman was forced. Dambara Upadhyay's husband had asked her to stay home the night she died. But she said she didn't want to risk it. The family quickly tore down the shed. But five months ago, they built a new one despite the change in the law. Nirmala Upadhyay takes me inside.

UPADHYAY: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: There's just a foot of space next to the wooden slat set up for a bed and a small shelf carved into the mud wall with toiletries.

UPADHYAY: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: A mirror, makeup⁹.

UPADHYAY: Makeup. (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: They belong to her 14-year-old niece. She got her period two months ago. Upadhyay follows the practice too, but she also agrees with the law.

UPADHYAY: (Through interpreter) They're looking out for our health, the police. If we stay in the shed when we're alone, we can get possessed¹⁰ by spirits. We can get sick, and no one will know.

PREISS: Koshila Khatri, one of the milk-selling neighbors, tells about a time when dishes she used while menstruating were accidentally brought into the house. That night, a tiger killed two of the family's goats. Her father-in-law, who is a shaman, says this is what the law can't protect against.

DILLI PRASAD JAISI: (Through interpreter) One buffalo costs 20,000 rupees. If it dies because a menstruating woman touched it, is the government going to pay for that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: Dilli Prasad Jaisi takes us inside, where he treats spiritual ailments¹¹. As we enter the smoky room, his wife calls out to make sure we don't have our periods.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: A few hours away, Ratna Tamata rings a bell at a community temple under construction in Ramaroshan.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL RINGING)

RATNA TAMATA: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: In these small temples endorsed¹² by the village's shamans, families can keep their sacred items. This means God is now outside the house, so women can stay in without breaking the rules.

TAMATA: (Through interpreter) We still need to pray. But for our safety, now we put God outside.

PREISS: The shamans' campaign helps a group of women activists¹³ push back in their own way. They want women to stay inside too.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTIVISTS: (Singing in foreign language).

PREISS: "Men and women are equal; their blood is the same," sing the women.

GANGA DEVI SAUD: (Foreign language spoken).

PREISS: The group's leader, Ganga Devi Saud, says the law can create fear, but the women themselves can show how nothing bad will happen from abandoning the practice. It's a message the women in Timalsena agree with. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Preiss in Achham, Nepal.

1 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 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。

3 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

4 purity   

n.纯净，纯洁，纯度

参考例句：

• She was a woman of purity and goodness.她是一位纯洁善良的妇女。
• The white colour is a symbol of purity.白色是纯洁的象征。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

7 equivalent   

adj.（to）相等的，等价的；n.相等物，等值物

参考例句：

• Nodding your head is equivalent to saying "yes".点头就等于说“赞同”。
• You will receive the full equivalent of your money.你将收到与你的款项价值完全同等的物品。

8 commission   

n.委托，授权，委员会，拥金，回扣，委任状

参考例句：

• The salesman can get commission on everything he sells.这个售货员能得到所售每件货物的佣金。
• The commission is made up of five people,including two women.委员会由五人组成，其中包括两名妇女。

9 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

10 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

11 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

12 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》