美国国家公共电台 NPR France's Gender Equality Minister Wants On-The-Spot Fines For Sexual Harassers

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

France's new government now has a ministry¹ that's devoted² to gender³ equality. It's led by a young author and blogger known for her frank writing on sex and sexism. NPR's Joanna Kakissis met her in Paris.

JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE⁴: Paris is known for its architecture, its art, its old-world beauty. But France's new Secretary for Gender Equality Marlene Schiappa says the city of light can often be a dark place for women. She's confronted men who catcall, harass⁵, even grope women.

MARLENE SCHIAPPA: You don't have to follow girls on two, three streets and ask her 20 times her phone number. They say, oh, but it's my right. I'm just chatting and talking with that girl.

KAKISSIS: The only way to deter⁷ these men, she says, is to criminalize sexual harassment⁸ on the streets. She says offenders⁹ should be fined thousands of euros on the spot.

SCHIAPPA: Our body belongs to us. It doesn't belong to men. And we have to say it louder, our body, our rules. (Speaking French).

KAKISSIS: We're talking in Schiappa's grand, light-filled office in central Paris. There are papers stacked on her desk, along with a tiny knit purse belonging to her 10-year-old daughter. Unlike most French politicians, Schiappa grew up in public housing in a working-class Paris neighborhood.

SCHIAPPA: I'm able to understand that what ordinary people are living. I know what it is to have a lack of money. I know what it is to count how much money you have in order to feed your family.

KAKISSIS: She worked in advertising¹⁰ but made her name as a writer and blogger, becoming a national spokeswoman for working moms. And at 34, she's the youngest member of President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet and one of the most criticized. In an office on the other side of Paris, financial analyst¹¹ Norah Memran explained why.

NORAH MEMRAN: She is a woman. She is young, and she's out loud. Who likes that, right? I do (laughter). I like it 'cause girl's power.

KAKISSIS: At a cafe in a hip¹² neighborhood, law student Philippine Laprade says Schiappa's forcing a conversation that maybe some men don't want to have.

PHILIPPINE LAPRADE: Obviously I don't think the problem is men going to women and say, oh, like, I found you cute. Can we have a drink or something? That's not offensive. The problem is men thinking they're entitled to yell at a young woman saying like, oh, hey, you, you have a fine ass⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in French).

KAKISSIS: Women even took to the streets to protest harassment in the working-class neighborhood of La Chapelle just north of Paris. Back at her office, Schiappa says some men don't seem to know what's off limits.

SCHIAPPA: If you go to the street and you say, is it allowed or is it forbidden to touch a girl's body on the street, I'm sure many people will say, oh, it's not that bad.

KAKISSIS: But she says attitudes have been shifting over the last few years, especially since the high-profile sexual assault trial of former International Monetary¹³ Fund Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Men convicted of sexual assault are now barred from holding elected office. And President Macron has also tasked Schiappa with going after companies that pay women less than men.

SCHIAPPA: I think not everyone is fighting for gender equality. So there is a political fight, ideological¹⁴ fight.

KAKISSIS: And since this June's elections, that fight could be more successful, since women now make up half of the cabinet and nearly 40 percent of parliament. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Paris.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

6 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

13 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

14 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。