【英语语言学习】关于童婚5件你所不知道的事情

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

 

NPR's Jennifer Ludden usually covers issues about changing family dynamics¹ here in the U.S., but a recent reporting project took her to Malawi to explore a very different kind of family phenomenon: child marriage. It's an issue that affects young girls around the world. Each year, some 14 million girls are married before the age of 18. Very often, they're forced into the arrangement by their parents.

 

Child marriage has many serious consequences, including injury - even death - during childbirth. And the number of child brides is growing. This past week, Jennifer Ludden reported on the issue, on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. She's with us now, to talk more about her reporting. Hi, Jennifer.

 

JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE²: Hi, Rachel.

 

MARTIN: So you recently traveled to southern Africa, to report on child marriage. Tell us what you found there.

 

LUDDEN: I went to Malawi, where half of all girls are married by the age 18 - a lot of them before they're 15. I met a girl just out of puberty; Christina Asima was her name. I interviewed her as she had her 8-month-old son wrapped to her in this big, blue, print cloth. She was married at age 12. She said she felt she had no choice. Her mother had abandoned the family; her dad was out of the picture. She's left with two younger siblings³. And she says, "I needed someone to help me," but it really didn't work out as she thought. Let's listen to her.

 

CHRISTINA ASIMA: (Through translator) My husband was not treating me very well. He used to spend his nights outside the house. So me, I was alone, I was taking care of myself. If that day I want to eat, it was me alone. Even to feed him, I was the one doing it.

 

LUDDEN: So here, she thought that a husband would help her raise her siblings; and she was left trying to go out. She said she would have to do farm work for other people, to feed herself and feed her husband. And now, of course, she has this 8-month-old baby.

 

MARTIN: What happens to girls like Christina in Malawi - and other places where this practice is common?

 

LUDDEN: Well, amazingly, Christina has actually left her husband. They're divorced. That does not always happen. In many, many cases, when you have a very young girl getting married in what's already a patriarchal society, experts say, you know, they have a life of servitude. There's a very unequal balance of power. They don't feel they can negotiate⁴ with their husband over all kinds of issues, you know, including when to have sex. AIDS a very real risk, in these cases. Also, they're open to getting pregnant⁵, whether or not they want to. And that can be devastating⁶.

 

I was amazed to learn that around the world, the No. 1 cause of death for teenage girls 15 to 19 is pregnancy⁷ and childbirth. Now, even if they avoid all those problems, they drop out of school, in most cases. They're ending their education, so they're forgoing⁸ whatever higher earning power and standard of living they might have achieved. The United Nations Population Fund last month just came out with a study saying that this is costing these developing economies - India, Brazil, Kenya - billions of dollars every year.

 

MARTIN: What are the reasons that parents decide to do this, to marry off their daughters so young? I imagine some of this is financial.

 

LUDDEN: Huge link with poverty, yes. It does vary by region, but a lot of parents may get a dowry for a daughter's hand in marriage. In northern Malawi, there's this practice called kupimbira, which means you can pay down a debt by giving your daughter to a family. Only the daughter - doesn't work with the son. You know, some studies have even cited⁹ links with climate change and child marriage. If you have a big drought and the crops fail, those families become desperate; and child marriage rates go up.

 

I spoke¹⁰ with Suzanne Petroni, of the International Center for Research on Women, here in Washington. She did say, look, in a lot of cases, these parents really do think they're doing what's best for their daughters.

 

SUZANNE PETRONI: They want economic security for them. And in many cases, they feel that having the girl get married will help her financially. And often in these families, the girls are the last ones to eat. After the men have eaten, the boys have eaten; then the adolescent girls get to eat. So if they're married into a family, their parents tend to think that that's a better situation for them.

 

LUDDEN: Also, you know, in many places, these girls are very vulnerable¹¹ to sexual¹² assault¹³, even walking to school. By middle school, they're having - many of them - to walk far away. And some parents may see marriage as way to protect their virginity.

 

MARTIN: This isn't an issue that's specific to Malawi. How widespread is this problem?

 

LUDDEN: It is across the developing world. International Center for Research on Women estimates 1 in 3 girls in the developing world marries before 18; 1 in 9 before age 15. A study a few years ago found there's even a few thousand cases of forced child marriage among immigrant communities here in the United States.

 

MARTIN: NPR's Jennifer Ludden, thank you so much.

 

LUDDEN: Thank you.

 

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

 

MARTIN: And you are listening to NPR News.

1 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

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 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 negotiate   

v.洽谈，协商，谈判，顺利通过，成功越过

参考例句：

• I'll negotiate with their coach on the date of the match.我将与他们的教练磋商比赛的日期问题。
• I managed to negotiate successfully with the authorities.我设法同当局进行了成功的协商。

5 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

8 forgoing   

v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Everything, in short, is produced at the expense of forgoing something else. 总之，每一种东西的生产，都得以牺牲放弃某些其他东西为代价。 来自互联网
• These aren't the only ones forgoing the morning repast, of course. 当然，他们并不是放弃早餐的唯一几个。 来自互联网

9 cited   

引用( cite的过去式和过去分词 )； 传唤； 记起； [军事]传（或通）令嘉奖

参考例句：

• He cited his heavy workload as the reason for his breakdown. 他说繁重的工作负荷是导致他累垮的原因。
• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat. 医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。

10 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。

11 vulnerable   

adj.易受伤的，脆弱的，易受攻击的

参考例句：

• He volunteered to protect her as she looked so vulnerable.她看上去很脆弱，他就主动去保护她。
• The company is in an economically vulnerable position.该公司目前经济状况不稳定。

12 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

13 assault   

v.猛烈地攻击，袭击；n.突然而猛烈的攻击

参考例句：

• She appeared in court on charges of kidnapping and assault.她因受到拐骗和侵犯人身的指控而出庭。
• The trainees were put through an assault course.受训人员接受了突击训练课程。