美国国家公共电台 NPR Here's How The Time's Up Legal Defense Fund Actually Works

 

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Hollywood has put its muscle behind the Time's Up campaign to fight sexual harassment¹ and discrimination in the workplace. Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, and Oprah Winfrey are among those who've donated hundreds of thousands of dollars. They've gotten the word out at awards shows like the Golden Globes.

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OPRAH WINFREY: The time is up.

MONTAGNE: One of the goals is to help defray the legal costs for women who've been sexually harassed². The Time's Up legal defense³ fund has reached $21 million. But how does the fund actually work? NPR's Elizabeth Blair went to find out.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE⁴: In a small conference room in Washington, D.C., a handful of lawyers and paralegals, most of them in their 20s, process applications coming into the fund's website.

VIVIAN: My name is Vivian (ph). I'm calling from the National Women's Law Center's Legal Network for Gender⁶ Equity⁷...

BLAIR: Sometimes, they have to call the applicants⁸ to get more information.

VIVIAN: And can you give me some examples of these harassment and discrimination instances?

BLAIR: More than 1,800 women from around the country have asked for help. Low-wage workers will get priority, but they're receiving applications from across industries - banking⁹, fast food, domestic work, universities. The fund is being handled by the National Women's Law Center. It's like a matchmaking service where alleged¹⁰ victims are paired with local attorneys. One of them who requested help works at a grocery store in Seattle. For privacy reasons, she asks that we not use her name. She says for months, she was harassed by a man who worked for a vendor¹¹, starting with unwanted compliments and requests to go out.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: And it finally escalated¹² to the point where he was putting his hands on me. And at that point in time, I became fearful. I was panicky. Even if I thought I saw him, I was getting nervous at work, unable to do my job.

BLAIR: Her sister told her about the Time's Up legal defense fund. She got on the website, filled out a form and hit send.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I said, this is what's happening, and I need help.

BLAIR: Within a week, she received the names of three attorneys. She ended up retaining Natalie Teravainen.

NATALIE TERAVAINEN: We talked for a long time about her story. And I just knew right away that we should pursue this.

BLAIR: And here is where the money comes in. Since one of the things that often keeps women from taking action is the cost of an attorney, attorneys like Teravainen can apply for funding from Time's Up. Fatima Goss Graves is president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. She says some lawyers have offered to take on cases pro⁵ bono or at reduced rates, but...

FATIMA GOSS GRAVES: Not everyone can afford to do so. And that's when the fund itself comes in to help entice¹³ more attorneys to join with us here.

DEBORAH RHODE: This is an area of enormous need.

BLAIR: Stanford law professor Deborah Rhode says getting enough lawyers and vetting¹⁴ them will be a challenge. Rhode's been involved with a similar hotline for women. She says they're drowning in calls.

RHODE: Most complainants don't have the resources to pay for a lawyer, and most lawyers will only take cases if they generate substantial damages and are relatively¹⁵ easy to prove. And especially for low-wage workers, that's rarely the case.

BLAIR: So far, more than 500 attorneys have offered their services to Time's Up. Deborah Rhodes says this is a huge undertaking¹⁶. Just as important to getting enough lawyers, she says, is monitoring the fund's effectiveness.

RHODE: How do we do it right? But we won't find that out unless we try to do it.

BLAIR: Fatima Goss Graves admits the legal defense fund is still a work in progress, like building the plane while it's flying. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

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1 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。

2 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

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 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

6 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。

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

9 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

12 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

13 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

14 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

15 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

16 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。