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?；镜奶嵝延校骸砩喜灰獑为毻獬觥ⅰ灰┤棺印?。”

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(zhì)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(yī)檢驗室；警察和公民人數(shù)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(shù)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(jié)印度文化課。我們已經(jīng)失去控制了，現(xiàn)在需要你來治理一下?！?/p>

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?！?/p>

"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(fā)布安全建議，但我從未說過要改變?nèi)魏稳舜┮碌姆绞??！?/p>

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(jīng)不是沙瑪?shù)谝淮我驗榫腿绾未_保女性安全發(fā)表意見而引發(fā)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?！?/p>

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(wǎng)愛新聞iNews譯者）
編審：Helen/yaning