VOA慢速英语2014 因穿着时髦屡遭攻击 肯尼亚女性争取服装选择权

 

AS IT IS 2014-12-09 Kenyan Women Attacked for Choice of Clothing 因穿着时髦屡遭攻击 肯尼亚女性争取服装选择权

Western behavior is clashing with traditional beliefs in Kenya. Some men there have attacked women because of the clothing they wore.

Hundreds of Kenyans marched last month in the capital, Nairobi. The marchers were protesting attacks against women by groups of men. The men claimed the women were targetted because their clothing is too sexy.

The protesters shouted “My Dress, My Choice.” They criticized a video published on social media. The video showed a group of men attacking a woman and removing all of her clothing. The men said the skirt she was wearing was too small.

Protesters said they wanted the men arrested. They then marched across Nairobi’s downtown area to a bus stop where one of the attacks took place.

A leader of the protest said she knew of at least ten such attacks across Kenya. She said there had been attacks in the coastal¹ city of Mombasa, and in Nyeri, in Kenya’s central highlands.

Diana Ross Akello was one of the protest organizers. She told the Reuters news service, “this is a journey of liberation. It is not just about dressing², it is about liberation of women from oppression because what we felt happened to that woman is so wrong and even up to now no one has been arrested. So we want action to be taken. There is a video. Something can be done.”

Several men took part in the protest.

James Wamathai said he was marching in support of women because he believes in equal rights.

He told the Associated Press news agency, “I think it’s really horrible and no woman should have to go through that. It’s a weird³ sexual fetish. If you see some of the videos some of the men are groping the women. But it’s not based on anything (like religion) because in Africa we didn’t used to wear clothes.”

The protest was a rare public show of support for women’s rights in Kenya. Rarely are people tried there for sex crimes.

But some Kenyans criticized the demonstrators. They want women to wear clothes that cover up more of their bodies. Ulda Akinyi watched the protest last month. She said she has told her three daughters to dress conservatively. She told the AP that “wearing miniskirts is the devil’s work.”

A day after the protest, Kenyan police arrested a number of men suspected of taking clothes off a woman in public. The men said she was not wearing enough to cover up her body.

The woman was taken to a hospital where she received medical care. She was then sent home.

Local newspapers said police had arrested up to 90 men.

Members of Kenya’s parliament criticized the attackers.

Lawmaker Cecily Mbarire asked, “Who defines decent dressing? What are we exposing our women to? These women are your wives, your sisters, your aunties.” 

Words in This Story

liberation – n. freedom

oppression – n. making others suffer; controlling by the use of unjust and cruel force or power

equal rights – n. something that a person is or should be morally or legally allowed to have, get, or do; often used to describe women and men having the same rights

fetish – n. an object or something thought to have magical powers

grope – v. to touch (someone) in an unwanted and unexpected sexual way

miniskirt – n. a very short skirt (a skirt is a piece of clothing worn by women and girls that hangs from the waist down)

decent – adj. good; appropriate or suitable

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。