【雅思课外精读】童婚合法化？索马里女性又一次被推入深渊（上）

　　【雅思课外精读】童婚合法化？索马里女性又一次被推入深渊（上）*注：本文摘自8月13日ABC News

　　Outcry in Somalia as new bill would allow child marriage索马里新法案允许童婚引发强烈抗议

　　1. An outcry is rising in Somalia as parliament considers a bill that would allow child marriage once a girl’s sexual organs mature and would allow forced marriage as long as the family gives their consent.

　　索马里议会正在考虑通过一项法案，该法案规定，在女孩性成熟之后允许童婚，只要女孩家里同意，甚至可以采取强迫措施。

　　2. The bill is a dramatic reworking of years of efforts by civil society to bring forward a proposed law to give more protections to women and girls in one of the world’s most conservative countries.

　　索马里是世界上最保守的国家之一，民间团体多年来一直努力推出能够为妇女和女孩提供更多保护的法律，而此次法安的提出是对民间团体之前所有努力的一次重写。

　　3. The new Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes Bill “would represent a major setback in the fight against sexual violence in Somalia and across the globe” and should be withdrawnimmediately, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, said in a statement Tuesday. The bill also weakens protections for victims of sexual violence, she said.

　　联合国冲突中性暴力问题特别代表帕拉米拉·帕滕在周二的一份声明中说，该性行为相关犯罪法案“将是索马里和全球打击性暴力斗争中的一次重大挫折”，应该立即撤销。她说，该法案还会对保护性暴力受害者产生影响。

　　4. Already more than 45% of young women in Somalia were married or “in union” before age 18, according to a United Nations analysis in 2014-15.

　　根据联合国2014- 2015年的一项分析，索马里已经有超过45%的年轻女孩在18岁之前结婚了。

　　5. Somalia in 2013 agreed with the U.N. to improve its sexual violence laws, and after five years of work a sexual offenses bill was approved by the Council of Ministers and sent to parliament. But last year the speaker of the House of the People sent the bill back asking for “substantive amendments,” the U.N. special representative said.

　　2013年，索马里与联合国达成一致，愿意改善其有关性暴力的法律，经过五年的努力，一项性侵犯法案被部长会议批准并提交议会。但帕拉米拉·帕滕说，去年，人民众议院议长将该法案退回，要求对其进行“实质性修改”。

　　6. The new bill “risks legitimizing child marriage, among other alarming practices, and must be prevented from passing into law,” U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said this week, warning that its passage would “send a worrying signal to other states in the region.”

　　本周，联合国人权事务高级专员巴切莱特说，这项新法案“有使童婚合法化的危险，必须阻止其成为法律”。她警告说，这项法案的通过将“向该地区的其他国家发出一个令人担忧的信号”。

　　7. Thousands of people in Somalia are circulating a petition against the bill, including Ilwad Elman with the Mogadishu-based Elman Peace center.

　　成千上万的索马里人在转发反对该法案的请愿书，其中包括摩加迪沙艾尔曼和平中心的伊尔瓦德·艾尔曼。

　　8. As Somalia prepared to mark International Youth Day on Wednesday, Elman tweeted this week: “I don’t wanna see any Somali officials participating online to celebrate ... when you’re trying to steal their childhood away from them RIGHT NOW with the intercourse bill legalizing child marriage.”

　　当索马里准备庆祝周三的国际青年日之际，艾尔曼本周在推特上说:“我不希望看到任何索马里官员在网上庆祝这一节日……你们在使性法案合法化，在设法偷走她们的童年。”

　　9. Somalia's presidency and health ministry had no immediate comment Wednesday. It was not clear when the bill would be put up for a vote.

　　索马里总统和卫生部星期三没有就此立即发表评论。这项法案何时提交表决还不清楚。

　　10. "We want to make sure it goes in line with Islamic law and traditions,” the deputy parliament speaker, Abdweli Mudey, said after the new bill emerged.

　　议会副议长阿布德韦利·穆迪在新法案出台后表示，“我们希望确保该法案符合伊斯兰法律和传统”。

　　11. The U.N. mission to Somalia in a separate statement has called the new bill “deeply flawed” and urged parliament to re-introduce the original one. That original bill “will be vital in preventing and criminalizing all sexual offenses,” the Somalia representative for the U.N. Population Fund, Anders Thomsen, said.

　　联合国驻索马里使团在另一份声明中说，新法案存在“严重缺陷”，并敦促议会重新引入之前的法案。联合国人口基金会驻索马里代表安德斯·汤姆森说，原法案“对防止一切性侵犯至关重要”。

　　12. “Big moment for MPs to decide Somalia’s future values,” the British ambassador to Somalia, Ben Fender, has tweeted.

　　英国驻索马里大使本·芬达在推特上写道:“议员们决定索马里未来价值观的重要时刻到了。”

　　13. The contentious new bill comes as women’s rights groups openly worry that the coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions in Somalia have worsened violence against women and female genital mutilation.

　　妇女权利组织公开表示担忧，称索马里新冠疫情和相关旅行限制加剧了对妇女的暴力行为和女性割礼的行为。

　　14. Some 68% of more than 300 service providers across the country have reported an increase in gender-based violence, including rape, since the pandemic began, UNFPA said in a report last month.

　　联合国人口基金在上个月的一份报告中称，索马里300多家服务机构中，约68%的机构报告说，自疫情开始以来，基于性别的暴力(包括强奸)有所增加。

　　15. Nearly a third of respondents, including more than 750 community members, said they believed child marriages had increased in part because of economic pressures and in part because schools have been disrupted.

　　近三分之一的受访者(包括750多名社区成员)表示，他们认为童婚的增加部分是由于经济压力，部分是因为学校停课。

　　精读解析

　　篇章结构

　　P1—P2：索马里或推出法案，允许童婚合法化，这是对之前保护妇女权利努力的一次大打击。

　　P3：联合国认为这是一次倒退，会对女性安全产生重大影响；

　　P4—P5：该法案的前身：此前索马里与联合国一致同意推出保护妇女权利的法案，但是该法案被退回。

　　P6—P12：各方对新法案的反应：强烈反对。

　　P13—P15：索马里女性面临各种暴力，疫情期间她们面对的暴力有所增加，原因：经济压力；停课。

　　重点单词outcry /'aʊtkraɪ/ n. 高声叫喊, 尖叫;公开反对【例句】Even this has provoked an outcry in Israel.即便如此，还是在以色列国内引起了强烈抗议。

　　rework/riː'wɜːk/ vt. 重做；修订【例句】An eleventh-hour casting change and directorial reworking that could earn an actor an Oscar.最后关头调整演员阵容，重新拍摄，结果却将后来居上的演员送上了角逐奥斯卡的舞台。

　　bring forward 提出；提前；结转【例句】The 66-year-old recently underwent surgery and brought forward plans to retire.66岁的马尔乔内最近接受了手术治疗，并将退休计划提前。

　　setback /'setbæk/ n. 挫折; 阻碍【例句】They achieved some victories despite these setbacks.尽管受到这些挫折, 他们还是取得了一些胜利。

　　withdraw /wɪð'drɔː/ vt. & vi. 取[收]回；(使)撤退[出]【短语】withdraw from v. 退出；离开withdraw money 取钱withdraw cash 取现；取钱withdraw troops 收兵，撤军【例句】They have withdrawn to a safer area.他们已经撤退到更为安全的地带。

　　deviate /'diːvɪeɪt/ vi. 越轨；脱离【短语】deviate from 偏离；脱离【例句】His statements sometimes deviated from the truth.他的陈述有时偏离事实。

　　substantive /səbˈstæntɪv/ adj. 真的,真实的,实在的,实际的；(军衔)永久的;非临时的【例句】The real question is whether Apple's substantive arguments are right.真正的问题是，苹果这种实质性的争论是否正确。

　　amendment /ə'men(d)m(ə)nt/ n. 修改, 改动;修正案【例句】The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

　　intercourse /'ɪntəkɔːs/ n. 交流, 交往, 交际【例句】A friendly intercourse is opened between the most remote parts of the world.相距极远的两国开始了一种亲睦的邦交。

　　put up for a vote提交表决

　　contentious /kən'tenʃəs/ adj. 容易引起争论的,好争论的【例句】Abortion is a highly contentious issue.堕胎是一个非常有争议的课题。

　　genital /'dʒenɪt(ə)l/ adj. 生殖的, 生殖器的【例句】Others denounce this practice followed in Masai and other cultures as female genital mutilation.外界谴责马赛和某些文化遵循的女性割礼这一做法。

　　mutilation / ˌmju:ti'leiʃən / n. 切断,毁损【同根】mutilate vt. 切断，毁坏；使…残缺不全；使…支离破碎【例句】Mrs Mubarak pushed through laws banning female genital mutilation and allowing women to become judges.穆巴拉克夫人推行新法，禁止女性割礼并且允许女性成为法官。