VOA慢速英語(yǔ): 津巴布韋試行女孩結(jié)婚年齡新規(guī)

Zimbabwean Government on Trial Over Marriage Age for Girls

津巴布韋政府實(shí)行女孩婚齡新規(guī)

A girl tries to escape as she is forced to get married in the town of Marigat in Baringo County December 7, 2014. (REUTERS/Siegfried Modola)

The African nation of Zimbabwe has long been known as a "hot spot" for child marriages. The United Nations says that as many as 31 percent of Zimbabwean girls are married before the age of 18. But, two such girls say enough is enough. They are taking steps to raise the legal age at which girls can be married.

非洲的津巴布韋一直是童婚的“熱點(diǎn)地區(qū)”。聯(lián)合國(guó)報(bào)告稱津巴布韋31%的女孩在18歲之前就結(jié)婚了。但是兩個(gè)女孩說到達(dá)18歲就可以。她們正在采取措施提高女孩結(jié)婚的合法年齡。

Loveness Mudzuru and Ruvimbo Tsopodzi were just girls when they were married and gave birth for the first time. Now they are hoping to correct what they say was a violation of their rights. Zimbabwe's highest court is now considering the case of the two young women.

妮絲·馬德祖（Loveness Mudzuru）和韋薄·提普迪茲（Ruvimbo Tsopodzi）她們就是18歲之前結(jié)婚，然后生孩子。現(xiàn)在她們希望能糾正對(duì)她們權(quán)益的侵害。津巴布韋最高法院正在審理這兩位年輕女士的案子。

They are seeking to raise the legal marriage age for girls from 16 years to 18 – the same as it is for boys. They also want to cancel existing child marriages. If the court agrees with them, the ruling could affect countless girls and their families.

她們希望提高合法婚齡，將男孩女孩的婚齡從16歲改到18歲。她們還希望能夠取消現(xiàn)存的童婚制度。如果法院采納了她們的意見，這項(xiàng)規(guī)定就會(huì)影響無(wú)數(shù)的女孩和她們的家庭。

Former finance minister Tendai Biti is serving as the lawyer for the two women. He argued in court this month that the legal age should be 18. That way, he says, the young women are old enough to make their own decisions.

前任財(cái)政部長(zhǎng)特恩·拜提（Tendai Biti）是這兩位女士的代理律師。這個(gè)月在法庭，他辯論到合法婚齡應(yīng)該是18歲。這樣的話，年輕女孩就能夠獨(dú)立自主的做決定。

"One in three Zimbabwean women is marrying below the age of 18. Twenty-five percent are, in fact, being married or impregnated before the age of 15. So these are young children."

“津巴布韋三分之一的女性未滿18歲就結(jié)婚了。事實(shí)上，25%的人還未滿15歲就結(jié)婚或者懷孕。她們還是年輕的孩子。”

Tendai Biti argued in court that Zimbabwe's new constitution identifies 18 as the legal age to decide to have a family. He said that approving marriage at a younger age violates Article 56 of the constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

特恩·拜提在法庭上辯論津巴布韋新憲法規(guī)定18歲是組建家庭的合法年齡。他說同意更早結(jié)婚違反了憲法第56條條款，憲法保護(hù)每位公民的合法權(quán)益。

Emmily Naphambo is with the development group Plan International. She says child marriage fails to protect the rights of children, and needs to end.

艾米麗·娜普汗博是國(guó)際計(jì)劃發(fā)展組織的成員。她說童婚不能保障兒童的權(quán)益，需要結(jié)束。

"We have very high prevalence of child marriages – second from South Asia. So as a region, we are at 37 percent, but within that region we have ‘hot spots,' which are countries with even much higher prevalence rates above 37 percent. For example, in Mozambique, in Malawi, in Zimbabwe, in Zambia, in all these countries, the prevalence rates are pretty close to 50 percent. For every 100 girls, 50 of them are already married by the time they are 18 years old."

“這里的童婚非常普遍——僅次于南亞。因此，作為一個(gè)地區(qū)，童婚比例占37%，但我們是‘熱點(diǎn)區(qū)域’，一些國(guó)家的比例超過37%。比如，在莫桑比克、烏拉維、津巴布韋、贊比亞這些國(guó)家中，童婚所占比例接近50%。每100名女孩中，一半的女孩18歲時(shí)就已經(jīng)結(jié)婚了。”

Opponents of child marriage say it is often a result of poverty, lack of knowledge and cultural beliefs. They note such marriages can lead to human rights violations. For example, marriage at an early age can prevent a girl from continuing her education. It can also reduce the chance of her getting a good job and good health care.

反對(duì)童婚的人表示童婚普遍通常是由于貧窮、缺乏知識(shí)和文化信仰的原因。童婚是對(duì)人權(quán)的侵犯。例如，過早結(jié)婚剝奪了女孩繼續(xù)接受教育機(jī)會(huì)，同時(shí)也減少了她獲得一份好工作和醫(yī)療保障的權(quán)利機(jī)會(huì)。

Zimbabwean officials say the results of child marriages can even be deadly. They say the nation's high death rates for children and mothers can be linked to the large number of mothers who are too young.

津巴布韋官員稱童婚導(dǎo)致的結(jié)果很嚴(yán)重。津巴布韋兒童和婦女的高死亡率與大量的女性太早結(jié)婚有關(guān)。

It is not clear when the Constitutional Court will rule in the case.

還不清楚憲法法院什么時(shí)候會(huì)宣告判決。

I'm Caty Weaver.

我是凱蒂·威弗爾。

This report was based on a story from reporter Sebastian Mhofu in Harare. George Grow wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

child - n. a boy or girl

correct - v. to change to what is right

court - n. where trials take place; where judges make decisions about the law

cultural - adj. of or related to the beliefs, traditions and arts of a population or group