VOA标准英语2012--Little Known About Men and Child Trafficking Victims

 

Little Known About Men and Child Trafficking Victims

A new study said much more research is needed on men and children who’ve been victims of human trafficking. It says they’re not getting the medical and psychological care necessary to rebuild their lives.

Dr. Sian Oram said human trafficking is widespread and growing.

“The international level organizations estimate that 2.5 million people are in situations [such] as forced labor¹ as a result of trafficking. And really we see trafficking in every corner of the globe. So there’s about 270,000 people estimated to be in trafficking in industrialized countries, but also hundreds of thousands in sub-Saharan Africa, in the Middle East, North Africa, [and] Latin America,” she said.

Oram led a team of researchers from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry². She said many studies have been done on the physical and psychological effects of trafficking on women.

“The studies were really consistently reporting about women who’ve been trafficked – the sexual exploitation experienced - very high levels of physical and sexual violence. And also we found that they were reporting very high levels of physical, sexual and mental health problems,” she said.

Little is known

Many men become forced laborers³ in fields or fishing boats. Many children may be recruited into armed groups, sexually exploited or used in the illegal drug trade. Asked how much is known about how they’re affected⁴, Oram said, “Really not very much at all. We didn’t find any studies that reported on the health of trafficked men. And we really only found a couple that reported on trafficked children, and they were very limited.”

Oram isn’t sure why so little is known, but she said it means little is being done to help them.

“I think it really means that when we’re looking to work with trafficked men and trafficked children to support their needs and help them recover from their experiences, we can’t do that in a way that’s informed by the evidence there, because the evidence just isn’t there,” she said.

PTSD

Many trafficking victims not only suffer from high levels of anxiety, but post-traumatic stress disorder⁵. It’s something often associated with combat veterans and war victims. PTSD can have debilitating⁶ effects.

“For example,” she said, “if women are talking to police, or they’re completing an immigration interview, and some of the symptoms of PTSD that they may have are around difficulty concentrating, or difficulty remembering important aspects of what happened to them, they may seem like incredible witnesses when actually it’s symptoms of the disorder that they displaying.”

Oram said it’s important to know whether men and children are suffering the same effects.

“I think there’s really a need to prioritize research with trafficked children and with trafficked men. And I think it would be a good idea for researchers to start linking up with organizations that are supporting these people, so that they can start to tap into some of that knowledge that’s already there,” she said.

The study said, “There is no sign that human trafficking is abating⁷.” It says more information is needed to design better interventions⁸ to “mitigate the physical and psychological damage associated with this global crime.”

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

3 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

7 abating   

减少( abate的现在分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼）

参考例句：

• The storm showed no signs of abating. 暴风雨没有减弱的迹象。
• The recent public anxiety about this issue may now be abating. 近来公众对这个问题的焦虑心情现在也许正在缓和下来。

8 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网