VOA标准英语2008年-European Groups Call for Action Against Forced

By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
16 June 2008

Several governments and women's rights groups say forced and arranged marriages are a growing problem in European countries. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul the Turkish city recently hosted one of a series meetings that brings together non-governmental organizations and local governments to examine the issue of people being forced to marry against their will.

A women from southeast Turkey told representatives of leading non-governmental organizations and local governments meeting last week in Istanbul about her forced marriage.

"I got married when I was 27, it was arranged marriage. I only met husband once before we wed¹, but I had no choice. It was decided² by my family and his that this was the man I have to spend the rest of my life, this is how it is for women, marriage is not a question of choice," she said.

With the backing of the European Union, the Hamburg, Germany, city council initiated³ a series of meetings across Europe to discuss forced marriages. Dr. Matthias Bartke of Hamburg says hearing about the experiences of women involved and about Turkish women's rights groups efforts to end forced marriages was an invaluable⁴ experience.

"For us it was actually perhaps the most important conference, because in Germany, especially in Hamburg, the Turks are the biggest minority and force marriages often occur among the Turkish community in Hamburg and also as you know the Afghani community," said Dr. Bartke. "I learned quiet a bit today how they are seen in Turkey."

While there has not been a Europe-wide study of forced marriages, speakers said their first-hand experiences indicated a growing problem. Local studies in several German cities support such concerns.

German woman's rights worker Rahel Volz, who represents the group Terres des Femmes, says children of migrants are increasingly opposing traditional arranged marriages and are being coerced⁵ into them.

"Many women and girls of the second and third generation of migrants in Germany are emancipating⁶ themselves," said Volz. "They know which rights they have, and the other side the parents do not want to lose their power. This one reason why it is growing, and on the other side because of the very big media presenting this problem there are many more women going to counseling services and starting to resist the will of their parents."

Many European countries are introducing legislation against forced marriage, but several speakers expressed concern over the lack of effective implementation⁷ of new laws.

Britain, which last year set up a Forced Marriage Unit to combat the problem, was held up as a success. The unit has carried out several rescues around the globe of British nationals being forced into marriage.

But Marlen Shenk, of a Swiss anti-forced marriage group, says education is also important

"The children are very important to inform about their rights because they can also work with their parents. Because the children know more about the society in Switzerland for example, so they can explain to their parents, their life works in such way in Switzerland. So you have joined this way of life, for example, in choice of which partner you will marry," said Shenk.

The majority of reported forced marriages in Europe involve Muslim families, but Rahel Volz says it should not be seen as an Islamic problem.

"Persons affected⁸ are from migrant communities from Turkey, but there are also Christian⁹ minorities," added Volz. "It is not a religious problem, it is also a traditional problem and we also have women coming from Greece and south Italy who are affected by forced marriages."

Although Turkey passed tough laws protecting women's rights in 2005, Turkish rights groups claim there has been little implementation of them - a charge denied by the government.

The Women for Women rights group also criticized Ankara's failure to join the European Union's Daphne project to fight violence against women.

Women for Women representative Pinar Ilkaracan says her group is still battling to get forced marriage recognized as a problem in Turkey.

"It is the first meeting on forced marriages in Turkey. Forced marriages is an issue of the invisible suffering of women, so it has not been on the agenda, but I hope through this awareness¹⁰ now, as it is becoming an issue among emigrant¹¹ communities in Europe, I hope that will also contribute to raising awareness here. We did research in 14 cities in eastern and southeastern Turkey and found that 52 percent of women were married against their will, so I think the numbers are horrifying," she said.

Women's groups in Turkey are trying to get the government to honor its three-year-old commitment to set up women's shelters in every city and major town. There are at present only 28 shelters.

Pressure from the European Union is seen by Turkish women's groups as their best chance of a change in the government's stance towards violence against women.

1 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

4 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

5 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 emancipating   

v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Innovation requires emancipating our minds, seeking truth from facts and keeping pace with the times. 创新就要不断解放思想、实事求是、与时俱进。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告
• The harmonious society is important content of Marx's mankind emancipating thought. 和谐社会是马克思人类解放思想中的重要内容。 来自互联网

7 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 emigrant   

adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民

参考例句：

• He is a British emigrant to Australia.他是个移居澳大利亚的英国人。
• I always think area like this is unsuited for human beings,but it is also unpractical to emigrant in a large scale.我一直觉得，像这样的地方是不适宜人类居住的，可大规模的移民又是不现实的。