印度旅游部長馬赫什·沙瑪（圖片來源：路透社）

　　India's tourism minister is furiously backpedaling after suggesting that women who visit India shouldn't wear skirts for their own safety.

　　印度旅游部長日前建議前往印度的女性為了自身安全不要穿裙子，但是他隨后連忙澄清。

　　Mahesh Sharma made the comments over the weekend while promoting a welcome kit that will be handed out to tourists when they arrive in India.

　　上周末，馬赫什·沙瑪在宣傳入境游客將會拿到的歡迎禮包時做出“不要穿裙子”的評論。

　　"There's a card in there listing the do's and don'ts. Basic things like, 'Don't go out at night alone.' 'Don't wear skirts.'"

　　“歡迎禮包里有一張卡片，上面列了注意事項。基本的提醒有：‘晚上不要單獨外出’、‘不要穿裙子’。”

　　The outrage was immediate. And for good reason.

　　這立刻引起了印度人民的憤怒，而且合情合理。

　　A string of sexual assaults against foreign women has sullied India's reputation.

　　印度的聲譽因為一系列外國女性被性侵的案件而受損。

　　The country has amended its laws to broaden the definition of rape to include any form of penetration; it lists out strict punishments not only for rape but also for sexual assault, voyeurism and stalking.

　　印度修訂了法律，擴大了強奸的定義，把任何形式的性交都列為強奸。修正后的法律也列出了對于強奸、性侵、窺陰癖和跟蹤罪的嚴懲方式。

　　But still, every high-profile case -- and there have been several -- brings the question to the forefront again: Is India doing enough to protect women? Is it creating a strong enough deterrent for crimes against women?

　　但是多起引人矚目的案件仍然帶來質疑：保護女性，印度做到位了么？有沒有強有力的措施遏制所有針對女性的犯罪？

　　Backlash

　　民眾反應強烈

　　For one thing, India is ill-equipped to process not just sexual assaults and rape, but all kinds of crime. It has a shortage of forensic laboratories; one of the worst police-to-citizens ratios in the world, and far fewer lawyers and judges than it needs to process cases.

　　首先，印度不僅僅在處理性侵和強奸案件上能力欠缺，在各類案件處理上都能力不足。該國缺少法醫檢驗室；警察和公民人數比是世界上最低的幾個國家之一；處理案件所需的律師和法官人數也遠遠不夠。

　　Critics lambasted the minister, saying his comments put the onus on women, rather than on a government that ought to do a better job of improving security.

　　批評人士痛斥旅游部長，認為他將安全責任推到了女性身上，而不是政府。政府應該為提高安全性做出更多的努力。

　　"Sir please give us bad women a lecture on Indian Culture. We are getting outta control N need to be harnessed!" said Sapna Moto Bhavnani, in one of many similar tweets taking the minister to task.

　　推特上有許多人批評這位部長。薩普納 莫托 巴夫南尼寫道：“先生，請給我們這些‘壞女人’上一節印度文化課。我們已經失去控制了，現在需要你來治理一下。”

　　Backpedal

　　澄清

　　On Monday, Sharma tried to clarify what he meant.

　　周一，沙瑪試圖澄清他的意思。

　　"I am a father of two daughters...I would never tell women what they should wear or not," he told reporters.

　　他對記者說：“我是兩個女孩的父親。我永遠不會告訴女性她們應該或不應該穿什么。”

　　"Such a ban is unimaginable, but it is not a crime to be cautious. Different countries issue advisories from time to time, but I never said change anyone's way of dressing."

　　“這樣的禁令是難以想象的，但謹慎一點總沒有錯。各國時不時都會發布安全建議，但我從未說過要改變任何人穿衣的方式。”

　　This isn't the first time, however, that Sharma has stoked controversy with his comments on how to ensure the safety of women.

　　不過，這已經不是沙瑪第一次因為就如何確保女性安全發表意見而引發爭論了。

　　Last year he said Indian women shouldn't go out at night.

　　去年他說印度女人晚上不應該出門。

　　"Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere but it is not part of Indian culture," he said.

　　他說：“其他國家女孩晚上想要出去是可以的，但是在印度，這是不行的。”

　　By the way, the pamphlet that Sharma referred to makes no mention of skirts.

　　順便說一句，沙瑪提到的安全手冊上并沒有提到裙子。

　　英文來源：CNN

　　翻譯：王慧雯（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）

　　編審：Helen/yaning