TED演讲:一位性工作者的诉求(4)

 A couple of years ago, a friend of mine was nervous after she was attacked at work, 几年前，我的一位朋友在工作时被袭击后非常紧张，

so I said that she could see her clients from my place for a while.  我让她暂时在我的地方见她的客户。

During that time, we had another guy turn nasty. 在那段时间，我们遇到了另一个很下流的人。

I told the guy to leave or I'd call the police.  我让他离开，否则会报警。

And he looked at the two of us and said,  这时他看着我们两个说，

"You girls can't call the cops. You're working together, this place is illegal." “你们没办法报警。你们一起工作，这是违法的。”

He was right. He eventually left without getting physically¹ violent, 他是对的。他最终没有使用暴力离开了，

but the knowledge that we were breaking the law empowered that man to threaten us. 但是他知道我们违反了法律，并且以此为武器要挟我们。

He felt confident he'd get away with it.  他知道我们拿他没有办法。

The prohibition² of street prostitution also causes more harm than it prevents. 同样，禁止街头拉客不但没有减少性工作者的危险，反而造成了更多的伤害。

Firstly, to avoid getting arrested, street workers take risks to avoid detection, 首先，街头的工作者为了不被发现，避免被捕，

and that means working alone or in isolated³ locations like dark forests where they're vulnerable to attack. 往往一个人工作，或者去僻静的角落比如森林深处，在这些情况下他们更容易遭到袭击。

If you're caught selling sex outdoors, you pay a fine. 如果你在室外卖淫被发现，你必须缴纳罚款。

How do you pay that fine without going back to the streets?  可是如果你不回到街上，哪里有钱支付罚款呢？

It was the need for money that saw you in the streets in the first place. 而钱就是迫使那些女人回到街头最初的原因。

And so the fines stack up,  如果罚款越来越多，

and you're caught in a vicious cycle of selling sex to pay the fines you got for selling sex. 她们就陷入了恶性的循环，用卖淫来支付违法卖淫的罚款。

Let me tell you about Mariana Popa who worked in Redbridge, East London.  我来讲一个马里亚纳·波帕的故事，她在雷德布里奇东伦敦工作。

The street workers on her patch would normally wait for clients in groups for safety in numbers 考虑到人多会安全一些，她那里的站街女一般一边聚在一起等待顾客

and to warn each other about how to avoid dangerous guys.  一边互相警告如何避开危险的人。

But during a police crackdown on sex workers and their clients,  但是在警方扫黄打非的活动中，

she was forced to work alone to avoid being arrested.  她被迫一个人工作以防被逮捕。

She was stabbed to death in the early hours of October 29, 2013.  她在2013年10月29日被刺死

She had been working later than usual to try to pay off a fine she had received for soliciting⁴. 她工作的比平常稍晚一些，只是为了偿还因为拉客而收到的罚款。

1 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

2 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

3 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

4 soliciting   

v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求

参考例句：

• A prostitute was soliciting on the street. 一名妓女正在街上拉客。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• China Daily is soliciting subscriptions. 《中国日报》正在征求订户。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》