【雅思课外精读】新冠疫情可能使家暴更加严重

　　【雅思课外精读】新冠疫情可能使家暴更加严重

　　No safe haven

　　没有天堂

　　The pandemic may be making domestic abuse worse

　　新冠疫情可能使家暴更加严重

　　It is also forcing people to find new ways to curb it

　　这也迫使人们寻找新的方法来遏制家暴

　　1. EVEN BEFORE covid-19 began to spread, domestic abusers often tried to isolate their victims so as to exert physical and psychological control over them. Lockdowns have magnified their ability to do that. Those at risk—be they partners, children or parents—can no longer escape, even briefly, to school or work. To help them, policymakers, social workers and campaigners are having to innovate.

　　甚至在新冠疫情之前，家庭者往往试图隔离受害者，以便对他们进行身体和心理控制。封锁对他们这样的做法提供了帮助。那些处境危险的人——无论是伴侣、孩子还是父母——再也无法逃避，他们甚至无法去上学或工作。为了帮助他们，政策制定者、社会工作者和活动家们不得不进行创新。

　　2. The pandemic has probably made domestic violence worse, but proving it is hard. Some rich countries are reporting more calls for help, says Claudia Garcia-Moreno, who leads the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) efforts against violence against women. In France reports to police of domestic violence rose by at least 30% in the first week of the lockdown imposed in mid-March. Other places are noting steep declines. Reports of domestic violence in New York City in April dropped by 35% compared with the same month last year. Overall crime, by comparison, fell by 29% over the same period.

　　疫情可能加剧了家庭暴力，但要证明这一点很难。世界卫生组织反妇女暴力行动负责人Claudia Garcia-Moreno说，一些发达国家报告了更多的家暴求助电话。在法国，向警方报告的家庭暴力案件在3月中旬实施封锁的第一周上升了至少30%。其他地区则出现了大幅下滑。纽约市四月份的家庭暴力报告与去年同期相比下降了35%。相比之下，同期整体家暴报告率下降了29%。

　　3. Even in normal times domestic violence is underreported. The UN estimates that less than 40% of women who are physically abused at home seek any kind of help. In lockdown victims may be scared to call the police or a helpline if their tormentor can overhear them. Victims may stay in their homes for fear of infection. Those who have lost their jobs may find it even more difficult to leave. The pandemic is making it harder to get help to the vulnerable—social workers fear infection, too.

　　即使在正常时期，对于家暴的报告数据也远远低于实际数据。据联合国估计，在遭受家暴的女性中，寻求帮助的不到40%。在封锁期间，施暴者可能会监视她们，因此受害者可能害怕报警或打求助热线寻求帮助。由于害怕感染，受害者只能待在家里。那些失业的人要离开家更加不容易。疫情使得向本就易受感染的社会工作者寻求帮助变得更加困难——社会工作者也害怕感染。

　　4. Domestic-abuse hotlines say that growing numbers of callers refer to covid-19—and the related economic fallout. Katie Ray-Jones, head of America’s national hotline, says the lockdown is prompting some already abusive men to become more so; some of those who wereverbally abusive before are becoming physically violent. Others are lying to their victims about lockdown rules, telling them that they are not allowed to leave the house under any circumstances, for instance.

　　家庭暴力热线称，越来越多的来电者将家暴归咎于疫情和受疫情影响的经济。美国全国热线的负责人Katie Ray-Jones说，封锁正在促使一些已经有虐待倾向的男人变得更加恶劣;其中一些人之前曾有过言语暴力行为的人，现在则开始实施肢体暴力。还有一些人甚至就封锁规定对受害者撒谎，告诉他们在任何情况下都不允许离开家。

　　5. Lockdowns are forcing those who help to be more innovative. Technology has long been useful. Refuge, a British charity, has an online-chat tool that shows survivors how to set up strict privacy features on their mobile phones. Many shelters and hotlines already have a button on their website that takes those looking for help to Google’s home-page and floods their search history with unremarkable sites in case their abuser walks into the room.

　　封锁迫使那些救助机构创新。技术一直以来都很有用。英国慈善机构Refuge有一个在线聊天工具，向幸存者展示如何在他们的手机上设置严格的隐私保护功能。许多庇护所和热线在他们的网站上已经有了一个按钮，可以把那些寻求帮助的人带到谷歌的主页上，并把他们的搜索历史记录淹没在不起眼的网站上，以防施虐者走进房间。

　　6. Online tools are especially useful now. A Dutch helpline is seeing increased numbers of children asking for advice on community forums and using their online chat tool to talk to experts. And the pandemic is prompting fresh thinking. Courts in New York state have started issuing orders of protection virtually. If the scheme remains in place after the pandemic, it would remove the obstacle of having to go physically to a court to gain legal protection from an abuser. Staff at the Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Programme at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York are now doing Zoom therapy sessions.

　　在线工具现在特别有用。荷兰的一个求助热线发现，越来越多的孩子在社区论坛上寻求建议，并使用在线聊天工具与专家交谈。这场疫情引发了新的思考。纽约州法院已经开始发布保护令。如果该保护令在疫情之后仍然有效，那么，求助者就不用亲自到法院才能获得虐待者法律保护了。纽约西奈山医院性侵犯和暴力干预项目的工作人员正在Zoom上进行治疗。

　　7. Where internet access is limited and legal protections are weaker technology may be less help. In Latin America mobile-data charges are unaffordable for many, so the WHO is trying to spread information about the help available through adverts on television and radio. Domestic abuse will outlive the pandemic. With luck, so will new tools to combat it.

　　在互联网接入受限和法律保护较弱的地方，技术可能帮助不大。在拉丁美洲，移动数据收费对许多人来说是负担不起的，因此世界卫生组织正试图通过电视和广播发布帮助信息。家庭暴力将比疫情更持久。如果运气好的话，还会有新的工具来对付它。

　　*注：本文摘自5月9日《经济学人》。