VOA慢速英语2013 印度判决强奸犯死刑

 

AS IT IS 2013-09-15 India Sentences Accused Rapists to Death 印度判决强奸犯死刑

Hello, and welcome to As It Is. I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

This week, a court in India found four men guilty in the rape¹ and murder of a young woman last December. The 23 year old student was raped² and attacked with an iron stick on a bus. Her friend, a man, was also beaten before both were thrown off the bus. She died from her injuries two weeks later.

Steve Ember has more.

The four defendants⁴ denied any wrongdoing. On Friday, all four were sentenced to death by hanging.

Two others were accused in the rape and death of the woman the Indian media called “Nirbhaya,” a name meaning fearless.

A fifth defendant³ was 17 years old at the time of the attack. He was sentenced to three years of detention⁵ – the strongest sentence possible for someone that age.

Police had arrested another suspect. His body was found hanging in jail last March. 

The gang rape incited⁶ protests across India. Demonstrators called for stronger measures to protect women from violent crime. The government answered the calls by ordering new anti-rape laws and creating courts to try cases quickly. 

But many women say not much has changed in the past year, even with all the media attention and public reaction. Some say they do not believe major change can take place in a society that gives special treatment to men. They say Indian police have been known to ignore crimes against women.

This week, the United Nations released a study of violence against women in Asia. Ten thousand men in six countries were questioned. The six countries were Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka.

Nearly one-fourth of those questioned admitted having raped someone at least once. Over 1,200 men admitted to forcing several women to have sex with them.

The study found that possible reasons for violence against women included being abused as a child, alcohol misuse⁷, poverty, and conflict. 

About three-fourths of those who admitted to rape said they did it to satisfy a sexual urge. Almost 60 percent said they raped a woman for entertainment, while almost 40 percent said they wanted to punish the woman.

Study organizers say the findings do not necessarily represent the actual likelihood of rape in the six countries. But they think it will be useful in efforts to prevent rape and other violence against women.

I’m Steve Ember.

Malawi Aims to Prevent and Repair Fistulas

We have more news about women and women’s health. Malawi and the United Nations are increasing efforts to prevent obstetric fistula. A fistula is a hole. In this case, it is a hole in soft tissue, either in the rectum or vagina.

The condition can happen during long and difficult childbirth. Or, sexual abuse can cause it. 

Women with fistulas often experience terrible pain. They can develop long-term infections. Their husbands and communities may reject them because they develop health problems or cannot have more children.

Young mothers and poor women are especially at risk. The World Health Organization estimates that two to three million women and girls in developing countries are living with fistulas.

In one African country, Malawi, the ministry⁸ of health is partnering with the United Nations to help women with fistulas get medical care.

Gift Malunga is the acting⁹ country director for the United Nations Population Fund in Malawi. She says the UN plans to organize “fistula camps” two times a year in public hospitals. There, women with the condition will be treated.

She says the UN is also teaching women how to prevent and treat the condition.

“We started with very few patients at the beginning, because people were not aware and there were myths surrounding fistula, that it is a curse, it’s not a medical condition. And then as we also engaged the media, that they assisted us to create awareness¹⁰ in the communities, and then we saw more and more patients now coming to our camps to an extent that even last time we could not treat all of them in the camp.”

Gift Malunga says women leave the camp physically¹¹ healed. They also leave with food, soap, and ideas about how to act if their communities reject them. She says the camps have already helped more than 600 women.

Some communities in Malawi are helping¹² the UN and government efforts. Chief Kwataine is a traditional leader. He has pushed for laws to help prevent young women from being at risk for fistula.

“As traditional leaders, we have now ganged up to set some bylaws to stop the traditional birth attendants from conducting deliveries in their villages to prevent the fistula issue. The second one is to set stiffer penalties to bar parents from encouraging young girls to get married. We have set up 21 as age limit to make sure that every young girl or young boy should attain¹³ 21 before she thinks of getting married.”

Chief Kwataine says people who break these laws can be punished. For example, they might be required to give chicken and goats to the traditional leaders.

Community efforts are a way to prevent more fistula cases. But other issues remain. One big problem is a shortage of trained doctors who can repair fistulas. The Ministry of Health says only a few of the country’s doctors perform the surgery.

Gift Malunga says that, as a result, the UN fistula camps have to use foreign doctors.

This year, the UN plans to hold its second fistula camp of the year in October. About 100 women are expected to receive fistula repair.

And that’s As It Is. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. Thanks for joining us today.

1 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

2 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

6 incited   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He incited people to rise up against the government. 他煽动人们起来反对政府。
• The captain's example incited the men to bravery. 船长的榜样激发了水手们的勇敢精神。

7 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。