环球英语 — 256：Stopping Violence Against Women Part2

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Hello and welcome to Spotlight 1. I’m Joshua Leo.

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And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.

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November 25 is the National Day for the Elimination 2 of Violence Against Women. Violence against women affects communities everywhere in the world. At least one out of three women in the world have suffered violence. They have been beaten, forced into sex, or abused in other ways. Often, women are abused by someone they already know.

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But there is hope. Women and men are working to end this violence. And they are making a big difference in their communities. This program is part two of two programs about stopping violence against women. Today, we look at violence caused by conflict, violence caused by HIV and AIDS, and violence caused by selling women for sex.

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All over the world women become victims of violence. This is especially true in areas at war. Today, the most common victims of war are not soldiers. The most common victims are people who are not fighting, especially women and children. In any conflict, this group can be up to seventy [70] percent of the victims. Violence against women has been reported in every war in the world. In many conflict areas, soldiers attack women as a way to frighten communities. The soldiers force women to have sex, they beat them, they force them to become pregnant 3, or put them into slavery. The soldiers know that rape 4 and abuse damage communities. It affects the men, women and children deeply and makes communities unbalanced.

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The Democratic Republic of Congo is one place where groups are using this kind of violence. Rebel soldiers in this country have attacked villages for many years.

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Denis Mukwege runs a women’s health clinic in Bukavu Congo at the Panzi Hospital. Every day about ten new women come in to the clinic. These women are victims of rape. Many of the women have also been beaten and cut with knives. They have suffered terrible physical damage. Doctor Mukwege discusses the attacks:

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“We do not know why these attacks are happening. But one thing is clear. They are done to destroy women.”

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Doctor Mukwege started his clinic to help these women. When he was young, he travelled with his father, a Christian 5 minister. Together, they visited the local people to pray with them. But Denis wanted to help them medically too. So he became a doctor. He saw this as part of his Christian work. Later, he opened the Panzi Hospital. He helped women who were having babies. But soon he noticed that there were many women in the area suffering from the effects of sexual 6 attacks. He decided 7 to change the goal of his hospital. He was going to help these victims.

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The Panzi Hospital provides medical care and surgery for victims of sexual violence. But the hospital also treats the emotional damage from sexual attacks. Workers also speak with husbands of victims to help them deal with the attacks. It is common for husbands to leave their wives after an attack. And this leaves the women in a worse position. The hospital workers are trying to prevent this from happening.

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Victims may also receive training in useful skills. This helps them make money, and care for themselves. And finally, the hospital provides day care for children born as a result sexual attacks, including children with HIV. Doctor Mukwege and the Panzi Hospital want to let women victims know that they are not helpless.

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HIV/AIDS is part the problem linked with sexual attacks against women. When a woman is raped 8, she has no control over what happens to her. If her attacker has a sexual disease, she is likely to also get it.

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But HIV/AIDS can also be a cause of violence. In many places women fear their husbands will leave if they get HIV/AIDS. Women have been beaten, rejected by their families and communities because they have the disease. And in some conflict areas, infecting women with HIV/AIDS has been a tool of war.

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HIV/AIDS is also a big problem in the sex trade. But HIV/AIDS is only one kind of violence that women in the sex trade experience. When she was a girl, Somaly Mam’s family sold her to be a sex worker in her country of Cambodia. She was beaten, raped, and tortured. She became part of the Cambodian sex trade.

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The sex trade is a problem in many places. Women and girls are sold or stolen and forced to have sex for money. This is called human trafficking or sex trafficking. The women are taken away from their homes, sometimes to different countries. Many of the victims of sex trafficking are young girls who are sold into sex work at a young age, before they are even able to go to school.

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This was the case with Somaly. But Somaly was not defeated by her terrible experiences. At a young age, she saw one of her friends murdered by a pimp, an owner of sex workers. Somaly knew then that she was in serious danger. She escaped from her slavery. But she knew she had to do something to help girls like her. She worked small jobs and soon got a job as a midwife helping 9 deliver babies in a hospital.

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She saved up her money and travelled to France. After a few years she got a good job at a restaurant. She met a man and got married. She was doing well. But she still felt that she had to do something to help sex workers back in Cambodia. So she moved back to Cambodia with her husband.

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Somaly and her husband started a group called “Acting for Women in Distressing 10 Circumstances.” The group works to fight sex trafficking. It helps rescued victims of sex slavery to recover. It trains them in useful skills for other work. And it helps them to enter back into the community by helping them live a normal life.

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Today, the group has expanded to the countries of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Somaly has published a book about her life story. She continues to tell the world about the crime of sex trafficking. She has helped thousands of women who have been forced into sex slavery.

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Violence against women takes many forms, from violence during wars, to sex slavery. But there is hope for change. Women all over the world are working to change people’s opinions about violence. On November 25, remember the people who are taking action, and working for women in their communities.