VOA慢速英语2014 调查战争中的性暴力

 

AS IT IS 2014-06-17 Investigating Sexual Violence in War 调查战争中的性暴力

New guidance on investigating sexual violence in war has been released at an international conference in London. Movie actress Angelina Jolie helped organize the four-day-long gathering¹, which took place last week. She is a special representative for the United Nations High Commissioner² for Refugees.

The goal of the conference was to end the impunity³ -- the freedom from punishment -- for those who are guilty of sexual violence in conflict. Christopher Cruise has more.

Lejla Damon was 18 years old when her parents told her about her adoption⁴. She was born on Christmas Day 1992, in the city of Sarajevo, as Yugoslavia was violently breaking up. Her mother did not want to see her newborn child. She gave her away.

"My mother, who was Bosnian Muslim, was raped⁶ repeatedly in the concentration camps at the time and she, she became pregnant and then in the end ended up having to give birth to me in the central hospital in Bosnia, in Sarajevo."

Lejla grew up in Britain. She was adopted by the husband-and-wife team who filmed her birth.

The fighting in Bosnia has ended. But Lejla says the Balkans war continues to affect people.

"Out of so many rapes⁷ that went on in Bosnia, I think the only, I think there were only 12 that actually went to court. It's probably my birth mum's story, this kind of sense of injustice⁸ that nothing ever really got done to help her."

Lejla Damon now works for an aid group called War Child. It took part in the conference, where organizers released guidance on how to record and investigate sexual violence in conflict. Actress Angelina Jolie spoke⁹ during the conference.

"I have met survivors¹⁰ of war-zone rape⁵ around the world. And almost without exception, they ask for one thing: justice -- the right to be accepted, not shunned¹¹ by society. The right to long-term economic and health support. And above all, the right to see their attackers held accountable in a court of law."

In many African countries, few sexual attackers are punished. And conference organizers say the use of rape as a weapon of war is common in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Helen Kezienwha is Uganda country director for the aid group ISIS-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange. Her group gives medical and emotional support to victims of rape.

"Most times, when women are raped, their families, especially their husbands reject them, so they suffer from depression, loss of memory sometimes, and sometimes they feel, have suicidal thoughts because of the anger that is resident in them. Sometimes they see the perpetrators of the violence and nothing has happened."

The international community has praised political reforms in Myanmar, also known as Burma. But activists¹² say the situation for women there has not changed -- especially for ethnic¹³ minorities in areas where there is still conflict. Zoya Phan is Campaigns Director at the group Burma Campaign UK.

"In Burma Campaign UK, the reports of rape and sexual violence that we received has been increased since President Thein Sein started this reform process. And many of the women who have been raped, they have been gang raped."

Conference organizers hope the new guidance will end the culture of impunity for sexual violence in conflict.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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》

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。