每日英語跟讀 Ep.960: As Traffic Signals Change, Some See a Token Gesture 孟買交通號誌添女性圖案…城市規劃師：沒有更安全 毫無意義

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At one of the most prominent street crossings in Mumbai, the little people in the signal lights have swapped their straight-legged trousers for triangular frocks.

在孟買極著名的一個十字路口，號誌燈內的小人已將直筒長褲換成三角形連身裙。

The city, India’s largest, last month installed 240 pedestrian signals that replaced male stick figures with female silhouettes along a stretch of road in the Dadar neighborhood. Mumbai is the first city in the country to install such signals, and officials say the initiative represents a commitment to empower women.

這座印度最大城市上個月在達德社區一段道路上，安裝了240個以女性身影取代男性人形圖案的行人號誌燈。孟買是印度第一個安裝此類燈號的城市。官員們表示，此案代表對女性賦權的承諾。

The government “is ensuring gender equality with a simple idea — the signals now have women, too,” wrote Aaditya Thackeray, the tourism and environment minister for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.

馬哈拉施特拉省旅遊環境部長薩克雷說，政府「用一個簡單的點子來確保性別平等，現在號誌燈內也有女性了」。孟買為該省首府。

But critics called the move a superficial token that would do little to fix entrenched issues of gender inequality in India. While women have occupied powerful positions in the country — Indira Gandhi became India’s first female prime minister — instances of high-profile violence against women in public have left many reluctant to leave home unaccompanied after dark. And domestic abuse and sexual assault are the most common crimes against women and girls, according to government statistics.

但批評者說，此舉只是表面功夫，無助於解決印度根深蒂固的性別不平等問題。儘管女性在印度先後出任過一些要職，甘地夫人即曾為印度首位女總理，但引人注目的一些公然對女性施暴的案例，卻讓許多婦女不願在天黑後獨自出門。據政府統計，家庭暴力與性侵是針對婦人和女孩的最常見罪行。

Women in India also face obstacles in education and employment. For every 100 boys in the country, only 73 girls are enrolled in secondary schools, according to government statistics. And women work fewer paid hours than men, bearing the brunt of unpaid domestic labor.

印度女性在教育與就業上也面對障礙。據政府統計，全國就讀中學的女孩，人數僅及男孩的七成三。女性必須承擔無償家務勞動，帶薪工時少於男性。

來自班加羅爾的32歲城市規劃師普佳．沙斯崔說：「這是個象徵姿態，但很俗氣。這些人形圖案一點也沒讓我們在路上感到更安全。」

“It’s a gesture, but a tacky one,” said Pooja Sastry, a 32-year-old urban planner from Bangalore. “Those stick figures don’t make us feel any safer on the road.”“It means nothing for the average Indian woman, or a female construction worker crossing the road for her daily wage job,” she added. “The crime rate isn’t going to come down. Domestic violence isn’t going to come down.”

她並補充道：「對一般印度女性，或是一個過街去賺取日薪的建築女工來說，這毫無意義。犯罪率不會下降。家庭暴力不會減少。」

A brutal gang rape on a Delhi bus in 2012 shook the country, setting off protests and discussions of women’s safety in cities. It also led to stricter punishment for crimes against women, including the death penalty for rape.

2012年，德里一輛公車上發生的一起殘忍輪暴案震驚全國，在各城市引發抗議以及有關女性安全的討論。對侵害女性罪行的懲罰也因而加重，包括強暴者可判處死刑。

But sexual assault, harassment and domestic violence have remained persistent. The country — which was found to be the most dangerous place for women when it comes to sexual violence and harassment, according to a 2018 Thomson Reuters Foundation poll of 550 global experts — reported 33,356 rapes and 89,097 assaults against women that year, according to government statistics.

然而性侵害、性騷擾和家庭暴力卻依然如故。湯森路透基金會2018年調查550位全球專家的意見後發現，就性暴力和性騷擾而言，印度是對女性最危險的地方。據政府統計，那一年印度發生33,356起強暴案及89,097起針對女性的侵犯事件。

When Thackeray tried in January to introduce more night cafes and 24-hour gyms and movie theaters in Mumbai in an attempt to add vitality to city life, his political rivals from the Bharatiya Janata Party opposed the plan because they said it would make women more vulnerable to rape.

今年1月，薩克雷試圖為孟買引進更多夜間咖啡館、24小時健身房和電影院，以之為城市生活增添活力，計畫卻遭到屬於印度人民黨的政治對手們反對，理由是這會使女性更容易遭受性侵。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/357470/web/#2L-17866414L