VOA标准英语2009-Southern Mexico Works to Improve Women's Rig

Domestic violence is widespread in Mexico's southernmost region of Chiapas. Indigenous¹ women, in particular, suffer from abuse, provoked by problems of alcoholism, unemployment and lack of education. But, efforts are underway to improve the legal and economic rights of women. They take the form of a newly invigorated government family program and self-help Women's Handicraft Consortiums, which are springing up in small traditional villages.

The ear-splitting noise of the bells is at odds² with the restful, gently sloping hills surrounding the traditional indigenous village of Zinacatan. Small green houses dot the rural landscape. Agriculture and flower cultivation³ are the principle activities here.

"This is an organized group of women that make different kind of handicrafts... the Textiles. Women Embroiderers from Zinacatan, Chiapas," says my guide, Adriana Alarcon. She introduces me to Pascuala Vazquez Hernandez, who started a handicrafts consortium with 19 other women in 1990.

"They organized in a big group to get some money from the government and to have a nice job to have another opportunity in life because by herself it is very difficult. So, they have to be organized. And, in a group, it is easier to get money," Alarcon explained.

"She was married. But, the marriage was just one year and a half. Her husband abandoned her so she has to fight for her family. She has one daughter. Her daughter is 18 years old and now they are working together. Her daughter now has a beautiful girl here," she said.

The baby, who is strapped⁴ on Hernandez' back, gets impatient as her grandmother explains the kind of future she wants for her granddaughter.

"She is 10 months… And, the future that she expects for her is that she will be sent to the school. That she has an education and a better life for her," she said.

The handicraft center is abuzz with activity. The women are plying⁵ their crafts in a sunny courtyard, with chickens, dogs and small children running around. Some are weaving carpets. Others are embroidering⁶ shawls, dresses and small purses.

A few tourists examine the beautiful, brilliantly colored goods that are on display.

I stop to talk to 20-year-old Rosa Ernestina Hernandez Vasquez who is weaving a carpet. She tells me she is unmarried and lives with her single mother and two brothers. She comes to work at this house every day.

"My life is a little hard," she said. "People do not always buy my goods. They are always bargaining and there is a lot of competition. I went to high school and I would like to continue to go to school. I also want to continue to make embroideries⁷. I would like to travel to other places to show off my culture."

Maria Gertrudis Hernandez Hernandez is a 25-year-old indigenous woman. She heads the State Program for Families and Adoption⁸ in Tuxtla Gutierrez. She says violence against women and children, aggravated⁹ by drugs, alcoholism and "machismo" is the biggest problem in the state.

She says her agency informs women of their legal rights, tries to protect them from abuse and helps them get some marketable skills.

"When a woman has problems in her home, she can live in a house for abused women for three months. These women are taught how to sew and do other things. And, when the women leave the house, the government finds them a job or helps set them up in a small business like making tacos," she said.

The wife of the governor of Chiapas, Maria Isabella Sabenas, is president of DIF, the Department for the Infancy¹⁰ and Families of Chiapas.

She says women have few legal rights in Mexico. But, this is beginning to change in Chiapas. In November 2007, she says the government created a new program, which provides legal aid to abused women.

"Years ago, a husband who beat his wife only got three months imprisonment¹¹. Now, they receive seven years," she said. "The program also provides social assistance for battered¹² women. They get psychological and medical help. They are given jobs training so they can become independent and are not forced to go back to their husbands."

Sabenas says the program has raised the public's awareness¹³ that the abuse of women is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

Statistics indicate that inter-family violence has increased. But, Sabenas argues the statistics are going up because more women are denouncing their husbands. She says women are learning to survive by themselves and are taking control of their lives.

1 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

4 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 plying   

v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意

参考例句：

• All manner of hawkers and street sellers were plying their trade. 形形色色的沿街小贩都在做着自己的买卖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rather Mrs. Wang who led the conversation, plying Miss Liu with questions. 倒是汪太太谈锋甚健，向刘小姐问长问短。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 embroidering   

v.（在织物上）绣花( embroider的现在分词 )；刺绣；对…加以渲染（或修饰）；给…添枝加叶

参考例句：

• He always had a way of embroidering. 他总爱添油加醋。 来自辞典例句
• Zhao Junxin learned the craft of embroidering from his grandmother. 赵俊信从奶奶那里学到了刺绣的手艺。 来自互联网

7 embroideries   

刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法

参考例句：

• Some of the embroideries are in bold, bright colours; others are quietly elegant. 刺绣品有的鲜艳，有的淡雅。
• These embroideries permitted Annabel and Midge to play their game in the luxury of peaceful consciences. 这样加以润饰，就使安娜博尔和米吉在做这个游戏时心安理得，毫无内疚。

8 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

9 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

10 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

11 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

12 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

13 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。