2007年VOA标准英语-Experts: Human Trafficking Increasing Every Yea

By Marissa Melton
09 February 2007

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Child laborers in Benin

Activists³, U.S. government representatives and scholars gathered in Washington Thursday to discuss human trafficking, not sex-trafficking, which is the most talked-about aspect of the industry, but the more prevalent one: forced labor¹. The United States says hundreds of thousands of people around the world are victimized by human traffickers each year. It is more common in some nations than others, but panelists said not even the United States has conquered the problem. VOA's Marissa Melton reports.

A representative for the group Human Rights Watch opened the one-day conference with a narrated⁴ slide show explaining the plight⁵ of Asian women who migrate illegally from poor nations such as Indonesia, Burma, and Laos to wealthier nations like Thailand and Malaysia to find work.

Nisha Varia, whose job puts her in contact with these women, said many get trapped in their jobs because their employers threaten to deport⁶ them if they complain about the conditions, such as long hours, forced confinement⁷, and even physical or sexual abuse. The soundtrack to the slide show features Varia's voice, describing some of the women she has tried to help.

"Some of them were very very nervous. There was one woman who kept going to the bathroom to vomit⁸ because she was so nervous. We were giving them phone numbers for hotlines, for the Indonesian embassy, for nonprofit groups that support migrant workers who are abused, and she was nervous even to take a small piece of paper that had a phone number on it," she said.

Varia said forced laborers need more protection. She said she wished she could use the United States as an example of a place where human trafficking doesn't exist. But despite increased efforts by the Bush administration to fight the problem, it still exists in north America -- partly because of the healthy job market in the United States.

Varia told her audience that the women tell her over and over that they just want to be treated like a human being, like everyone else.

Andrea Bertone, director of the U.S.-funded HumanTrafficking.org, also concentrates on human trafficking in Asia. She said migrant workers are often viewed as second-class citizens, as evidenced by a recent poll of employers in Thailand. "About half of them do not believe that migrants should have the same rights as Thai workers. They don't believe that they should have freedom of expression, they don't believe they should be able to form unions. This kind of research, I think, starts to open windows for us to understand why there is labor exploitation," she said.

John Fitzpatrick of the U.S. Department of Labor described some efforts federal agencies, including his own and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) agency, are making to cooperate on the issue. But he did not paint an entirely⁹ rosy¹⁰ picture.

"We're working with both ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation¹¹, we've held joint¹² training sessions with their agents and our agents trying to figure out the industries that have a preponderance of these trafficking violations¹³. We have a multi-pronged effort, it's been underway for a while, but we have a long ways to go," he said.

The activists on the panels suggested solutions such as better worker protection laws and job creation in poor countries where the workers migrate from. Seven years ago,the United Nations adopted a new treaty against organized crime that included a protocol¹⁴ aimed at human trafficking, particularly women and children.

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 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

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

6 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

7 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

8 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

14 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。