VOA慢速英语2019 研究称很多女性分娩期间受到虐待（在线收听）

Study: Many Women Are Abused While They Give Birth

A new report says a large number of women are physically or verbally abused while they give birth in health centers.

一份新报告称，许多女性在医疗中心分娩时受到了身体或言语上的虐待。

Most of the abuse happens in the 15 minutes before and during childbirth.

大多数虐待发生在分娩前15分钟或分娩期间。

The report noted other studies that found midwives and doctors believed they could “punish” women if they failed to do what the health workers wanted.

该报告指出，其它研究发现助产士和医生认为如果产妇未能按照医务人员的意愿去做，他们就能“惩罚”产妇。

Researchers wrote in the report that mistreatment during childbirth can be a violation of human rights. The fear of being mistreated could also prevent women from seeking treatment at health centers.

研究人员在报告中写道，分娩过程中的虐待可能侵犯人权。担心受到虐待可能也会让女性不去医疗中心寻求诊治。

The World Health Organization led the new study. The report was published in the medical publication The Lancet.

世卫组织领导了这项新研究。该报告发表在医学出版物《柳叶刀》上。

What the study said

这项研究说了什么

Researchers followed more than 2,000 women in Nigeria, Myanmar, Ghana and Guinea. More than 4 in 10 reported being hit, forcibly held down, shouted at or criticized while giving birth. Women in the four countries had high rates of surgical operations related to childbirth without their approval – and often without medicine to ease the pain, either.

研究人员跟踪调查了尼日利亚、缅甸、加纳和几内亚的2000多名妇女。其中40%以上的妇女报告称她们在分娩时遭到了殴打、强行按压、大声训斥或者是批评。这4个国家的妇女有很大比例未经她们允许做了与分娩有关的外科手术，而且往往没有提供缓解疼痛的药物。

Younger, less-educated women are especially at risk of abuse during childbirth, researchers found. And, in general, women are often afraid to report examples of abuse against them.

研究人员发现，年轻、文化程度较低的妇女在分娩期间尤其容易受到虐待。而且总的来说，妇女们往往害怕报告她们受虐的案例。

The researchers urged officials to hold caregivers who mistreat women during childbirth responsible. They also urged governments to ensure women have a safe place to give birth. For example, they said that women should be able to agree to all medical actions. Women should be able to choose someone to stay with them at the health centers. And they should have as much privacy as possible.

研究人员督促有关官员追究在分娩期间虐待产妇的医护人员的责任。他们还督促各国政府确保妇女有一个安全的分娩场所。例如他们称妇女应该可以决定所有医疗手术。妇女应该能够选择某人跟她一起留在医疗中心。而且她们应该有尽可能多的隐私。

This is a problem everywhere

这是全球性问题

Health officials say the mistreatment of women during childbirth appears to be a problem around the world, including in developed countries. Earlier reports documented physical abuse of women in Eastern Europe, especially Roma women. Some of these women were also separated from their newborns for several days.

卫生官员表示，在分娩期间虐待产妇似乎是一个全球性的问题，包括在发达国家。早前的报告记录了东欧妇女，尤其是罗姆人妇女遭受的身体虐待情况。这些妇女中有一些人还跟新生儿分离了数日。

Abusive actions toward mothers have also been reported across Latin America. In 2007, Venezuela became the first country to pass a law banning childbirth-related violence.

拉丁美洲各地也报告了这种针对母亲的虐待行为。2007年，委内瑞拉成为首个通过了法律禁止与分娩有关暴力行为的国家。

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

verbally - adv. relating to words

midwives - n. a person who helps a woman when she is giving birth to a child

Latin America - n. Spanish America and Brazil