VOA慢速英语2013 利比亚的性骚扰事件增多

 

AS IT IS 2013-11-15 Sexual Harassment² on the Rise in Libya 利比亚的性骚扰事件增多

From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is.

I’m Caty Weaver³.

Thanks for joining us.

Today on the program, we talk about the sexual threats and mistreatment that many women must deal with in Libya. The problem has reportedly worsened since the ousting⁴ of the country’s leader Moammar Gadhafi two years ago.

“The Gadhafi time there was a lot of sexual harassment and the generations have now grown up with that.”

Then, we tell you about some men in Malawi who are trying to put an end to violence against women in their country.

Sexual Harassment Increasing in LibyaSexual mistreatment of women is increasing in Libya. Women say that problem -- combined with general lawlessness in the country -- is making their lives more difficult and dangerous.

Christopher Cruise reports.

It was bad under former leader Moammar Gadhafi, with men feeling free to touch, threaten and demand sex from women. It was a common experience for women in public places like shops, universities and offices.

Now, women and activists⁶ report it has gotten worse.

One of them is Anne, a British immigrant who has lived in Libya since 1965.

“It is worse now. When I first came over there was actually very little harassment of women. In general, the youngsters, they were very respectful, they were friendly.”

The Gadhafi family and top government officials were known for kidnapping women, sometimes after seeing them at beauty shops or markets. In her new book “Gaddafi’s Harem,” newspaper reporter Annick Cojean says Gadhafi family members and government officials would take women from their homes after seeing them in public.

One woman named Nisreen says that behavior began to spread through Libyan society.

“When the Gadhafi time, there was a lot of sexual harassment and the generations have now grown up with that.”

She says that harassment has increased in Tripoli and other big cities since the revolution. She says lawlessness has made life more dangerous for women in Libya.

Nisreen says women out alone in public -- or even with other females -- face verbal and sometimes physical abuse. Even shopping has become difficult, she says.

“All these youngsters who are high on drugs and drunk and who are going around and when they see someone they like or whatever and they start harassing⁷ her.”

Libya is not the only Middle Eastern country where sexual harassment has increased greatly following a revolution. In May, the United Nations Entity⁸ for Gender⁹ Equality reported that 99.3 percent of Egyptian women have experienced some form of sexual harassment or violence. Almost 50 percent of women have reported harassment since the revolution that removed Hosni Mubarak as president.

Because Libya does not have a working police force, there are no records available to tell how big the problem is. But activists say sexual harassment is widespread. They say women are afraid to report abuse because they fear police will harass¹ them if they do.

Leila is a Libyan activist⁵. She says many professional women try to find work they can do from home. She says she is careful about leaving home.

“I can’t even walk to the next-door grocery store. I have to take the car.”

Activists in Libya have now followed an example set in Egypt. They have launched a “Don’t Harass Me” website to record incidents. The website is dontharass.me. They hope it will push Libyan officials to act to try to stop the harassment of women.

I’m Christopher Cruise.

You are listening to the Learning English program As It Is, on the Voice of America.

I’m Caty Weaver.

Malawi Men Fight Violence Toward WomenAs women work for their safety and rights in Libya, men in Malawi work to end violence against women there. A non-governmental organization called “Men for Gender Equality Now” is fighting the cultural belief in Malawi that men are superior to women.

Marcel Chisi is the national chairperson for the group. He says its recent studies suggest that 85 percent of gender-based violence in Malawi is done by men against women and girls. His group wants to change that.

“When we look at statistics, men are mentioned many times as being perpetrators of violence and not necessarily part of the solution.”

Mr. Chisi says his group has what it calls a “husbands school,” where young and old men are taught how to be responsible fathers and how to take care of a family.

“When a young man is going into marriage, he is not told anything. What it means is that many young men have gone into marriages without necessarily knowing what to do in there.”

Marcel Chisi says Men for Gender Equality Now has about 50,000 members across Malawi. These men also work on other issues that many men believe should be worked on only by women, like HIV prevention, child-raising and women’s reproductive rights.

“What is the role of men in deciding how many children a woman would have in a family? Because normally some women have no say in their families.”

The problem of gender-based violence in Malawi is well reported. In 2006, Herbert Samuel cut off the arms of Marietta Samuel, his 33 year old former wife and the mother of three children. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

And recently, a local newspaper reported that police had arrested a man in central Malawi for cutting his wife’s sex organs after she would not have sex with him.

Even with legal action, problems like these continue. Marcel Chisi says this is why his group believes new methods must be used.

Women’s groups like the Centre for Alternatives for Victimized Women support Men for Gender Equality Now. Maxwell Kaliati leads the group.

“When they (men) are  seeing their fellow men doing the activities they feel encouraged and think that this is a real cause for us to change our behavior.”

And some women say it is making a difference in their lives. Rhoda Mankhwala lives in Mbayani Township in the Blantyre area. She says that her husband’s behavior improved after he attended a meeting of Men for Gender Equality Now.

Malawi is not the only African nation with such programs. Similar groups are being established in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

And that’s As It Is for today.

I’m Caty Weaver.

1 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

4 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

5 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。

6 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》

7 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

8 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。