打击校园性暴力

    This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。

    Last week, we told you about a call for American educators to do more to protect students from sexual violence on campus. The government recently sent a letter telling schools, colleges and universities that such violence is a form of sex discrimination.
    上周,我们谈到了美国教育工作者呼吁采取更多措施,保护学生免受校园性暴力侵害。政府给各类学校、学院和大学致函提醒他们这种暴力是性别歧视的一种。

    That means it violates a nineteen seventy-two law against discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities.
    意思是性暴力违反一部1972年颁布的教育项目和活动中反性别歧视的法律。

    The letter says schools must take steps like making sure victims know their rights and are kept informed about investigations. Victims must also be protected if the accused attacker is still in school with them.
    信中说,学校必须采取一些措施,例如确保受害者知道他们的权利,并随时了解调查的进展。如果被控攻击者仍与受害者在同一学校,受害人还必须得到保护。

    Russlyn Ali is the assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. She and her staff wrote that letter.
    Russlyn Ali是美国教育部公民权利办公室的部长助理。她和她的职员撰写了这封信。

    RUSSLYN ALI: "Our sense of urgency could not be greater, and as I'm sure any parent in America would say, they don't want their child to go to college or school and have to be worried about being raped. And we are going to work with officials to make sure that doesn't happen."
    RUSSLYN ALI:“我们的紧迫感已经扩大到极致,我敢肯定美国任何一个父母都不希望自己的孩子在学校还必须面对被强奸的担忧。我们将与相关官员一起努力确保这种情况不会发生。”

    One of those officials is Mary Mayhew. She leads efforts to prevent sexual harassment and rape at the University of New Hampshire. That was where Vice President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan released the guidance letter in April.
    玛丽·梅休(Mary Mayhew)是这其中的有关官员之一。她在新罕布什尔大学致力于防止性骚扰和强奸。美国副总统拜登和教育部长邓肯四月份在该校发布了指导信。

    Ms. Mayhew says she believes sexual violence on campuses has actually decreased over the past twenty years. She says schools are getting better at educating students to understand the idea of consent -- or, put more simply, that no means no.
    梅休女士表示,她认为在过去20年里,校园性暴力实际上已经有所下降。她说,学校在教育学生理解“什么叫同意”方面已经做得很好。简单的说就是,“不就代表着不行。”

    MARY MAYHEW: "Between nineteen eighty-eight and two thousand was when we really started implementing education campaigns about what consent is. So we educated, you know, the population and that did amount to some degree of prevention."
    梅休:“在1988年到2000年期间,我们开始真正实施关于“什么叫同意”的教育运动。经过教育起到了一定程度上的预防作用。

    Ms. Mayhew says the warning from the government to pay more attention to the problem might lead more schools to start or expand their programs. At the same time, however, it might also lead to an increase in reports of sexual assaults. Not necessarily because the problem has gotten worse, she says, but because more students will know their rights and be willing to report attacks on campus.
    梅休女士说,政府要求学校更加关注性暴力问题可能会促使更多学校开始开展或扩大这种教育项目。但同时它也将导致性骚扰报告增加,这不一定是因为这一问题变得更加严重,而是因为更多学生将知道他们的权利,更愿意报告这类校园攻击事件。

    Russlyn Ali at the Education Department says the government is ready to take action against schools that fail to protect their students.
    教育部的Russlyn Ali表示,政府已经准备好对那些无法对学生进行有效保护的学校采取行动。

    RUSSLYN ALI: "Where there are violations, and in the case where officials are not willing to comply with the nation's civil rights laws, we will enforce the laws vigorously."
    Russlyn Ali:“在有违反,或有关官员不愿意遵守国家民权法的地方,我们将大力执行这一法律。”