纽约时报 为何美军内部性侵频发(1)

 

For decades, sexual assault and harassment¹ have festered through the ranks of the armed forces with military leaders repeatedly promising² reform and then failing to live up to those promises. Women remain a distinct minority, making up only 16.5 percent of the armed services, yet nearly one in four servicewomen reports experiencing sexual assault in the military, and more than half report experiencing harassment, according to a meta-analysis of 69 studies published in 2018 in the journal Trauma⁴, Violence & Abuse. (Men are victims of assault and harassment, too, though at significantly lower rates than women.) One key reason troops who are assaulted rarely see justice is the way in which such crimes are investigated and prosecuted⁶. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military commanders decide whether to investigate and pursue legal action — responsibilities that in the civilian⁷ world are overseen⁸ by dedicated⁹ law enforcement.

数十年来，军队中的性侵犯和性骚扰问题不断恶化，军队领导人一再承诺进行改革，但之后又未能兑现这些承诺。根据《创伤、暴力与虐待》期刊2018年根据69项研究发布的荟萃分析，女性仍是军队中明显的少数群体，武装部队中的女军人数量仅占16.5%，但近四分之一的女军人报告在军队中遭受过性侵，超过一半的女军人报告遭受过骚扰。（男性也是侵犯和骚扰的受害者，尽管比率远低于女性。）遭受侵犯的军人很少得到公正的一个关键原因是调查和起诉此类罪行的方式。根据《军事司法统一法典》，军事指挥官决定是否调查并采取法律行动——而在平民世界，这些责任由专门的执法部门监督。

Some politicians have been fighting, and failing, for years to change these military laws. Every year since 2013, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has introduced legislation to move the decision to prosecute⁵ major military crimes, including sex crimes, out of the hands of commanders and into those of independent prosecutors¹⁰. And every year, it has failed to move forward. Historically, the Pentagon has vehemently¹¹ opposed the idea, saying that it would undermine institutional leadership. During a 2019 Senate hearing, Vice³ Adm. John G. Hannink, judge advocate general of the Navy, testified that removing authority over serious crimes from commanders "would have a detrimental¹² impact on the ability of those commanders — and other commanders — to ensure good order and discipline."多年来，一些政客一直在为改变这些军事法律而斗争，但均以失败告终。自2013年以来，纽约州参议员基尔斯滕·吉利布兰德每年都会提出立法，将起诉包括性犯罪在内的重大军事犯罪的决定从指挥官手中转移到独立检察官手中。但每一年，这都未能取得进展。从历史上看，五角大楼强烈反对这一想法，称这将削弱机构领导地位。在2019年的参议院听证会上，海军中将、海军总检察长约翰·G·汉尼克作证称，取消指挥官对严重罪行的管辖权“将对这些指挥官以及其他指挥官确保良好秩序和纪律的能力产生有害影响。”

But this year has seen the arrival of a new administration, the end of a 20-year war in Afghanistan and the United States military's reckoning with many of the politically heated questions also being debated across America, including demands to change the names of bases named after Confederate leaders, accusations¹³ of racial bias¹⁴ and sexism across the armed services and right-wing backlash over the supposed teaching of "critical race theory" to service members. It's a combination of events that could help shepherd into the Pentagon some of the most significant policy reforms in a generation.

但今年，新一届政府上台，持续20年的阿富汗战争结束，以及美国军方应对许多政治热点问题的方式也在全美展开辩论，包括要求更改以南部邦联领导人命名的基地名称，对军队中存在种族偏见和性别歧视的指控，以及右翼对所谓向军人传授“批判种族理论”的强烈反对。这是一系列事件的结合，有助于引导五角大楼进行一代人以来最重大的政策改革。

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 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

5 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

6 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

12 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

13 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

14 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。