印度考虑为妇女保留议会席位

A Bill to guarantee Indian women a role in national-level politics may come to a vote soon, after being debated and shaped for nearly two decades.

为确保印度妇女在全国政坛上占有一席之地的一项法案可能即将进行表决。在这之前，有关内容的辩论和草拟进行了将近20年之久。

The so-called Women's Reservation Bill would be a first step toward amending India's constitution to reserve one third of the country's parliament seats for women.

这项法案被称为女性席次保留法案。该法案为修正印度宪法以保留议会三分之一席位给妇女迈出了第一步。

Similar quotas are already in place in municipal and local levels around the country. Supporters of implementing a national quota say it would go far in furthering gender equality and women's empowerment.

类似的保留名额做法已经在全国的市与地方层级中实施。支持在全国实施保留名额的人士认为，这种做法将进一步促进性别平等，并赋予印度妇女权力。

Chhavi Rajawat is a sarpanch, or leader, of a local council known as a panchayat in the Indian state, Rajasthan, says the Women's Reservation Bill would address a historical imbalance.

拉贾瓦特是拉贾斯坦邦一个村务委员会的领导人。她说，女性席次保留法案将解决历史性的不平等问题。

"Given the fact that that balance has not been maintained, something has to drive it and therefore, I think, women reservation is required to allow that," said Rajawat. "Otherwise, I, perhaps, would not have been a sarpanch if there was not a reserved seat for women."

拉贾瓦特说：“在一直都不平衡的现实情况下，就必须有驱动力量来解决这个问题。因此我认为，这就需要有女性席次保留；以我自己来说，如果没有为妇女保留席次，我是不会成为村务委员会领导人的。”

Advocacy groups say India's traditional society creates very serious obstacles to women's advancement. A recently released United Nations Children's Fund report said 57 percent of Indian adolescent boys surveyed felt it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife. The male-to-female birth ratio is skewed in favor of men on average, suggesting to medical experts that Indian families avoid having female babies with selective abortion.

支持这个法案的组织表示， 印度的传统社会给妇女地位的提升造成严重阻碍。联合国儿童基金会最近公布的报告显示 ，57%接受调查的印度青年男孩认为，男人打太太是可以接受的行为。印度的男女婴出生率倾斜失衡，一般来说偏爱男孩，医学专家认为，印度家庭以选择性堕胎方式来避免生出女婴。

The director of the Center for Social Research in New Delhi, Ranjana Kumari, is pushing for the passage of the reservation bill.

位于新德里的社会研究中心主任库马里正在推动让女性席次保留法案获得通过。

"I think the quota for women should be made mandatory given the political-party system, which is absolutely, totally male controlled and male dominated," said Kumari. "And, also when you look at the way women are so skewed in terms of numbers in political party, even the membership of the political party, decision making of the political party, is all under the male control."

她说：“我认为，给妇女的保留名额必须要执行，这是因为政党制度完全被男性控制，男性主导。我们还看到，政党中的女性成员不成比例，甚至政党的党员资格，以及政党的决策都是在男性的掌控之下。”Critics of the bill say that it would only help women from elite and rich families to enter politics. They fear it would marginalize lower-caste and tribal Indians, as well as Muslims.

批评者认为，这个法案只会帮助那些来自精英和富裕家庭的妇女进入政坛。他们担心，女性席次保留法案会把较低种性的印度人，部落印度人以及穆斯林边缘化。

Lawmaker Neeraj Shekhar says he is not opposed to reserving seats for women, but wants the reserved seats to be more inclusive of India's diverse groups.

议员尼拉吉谢卡尔说，他不反对为妇女保留席位，但是他希望，被保留的席位能容纳更多不同的族群。

"We are for reservation, but there should be a reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled-tribes' women and minorities also," Shekhar noted.

谢卡尔说：“我们支持保留席位，但是应该为设籍种性以及设籍部落的妇女，和少数族群保留席位。”

Backers of the women's bill say implementing it will change Indian politics for the good, refocusing the legislative agenda on providing basic services like education and drinking water.

支持这个法案的人认为，这个法案会使印度政治变得更好，使立法议程的重心回归到为人民提供基本服务，例如教育和饮水。

A village council member in Himachal Pradesh state, Shashi Kiran, says the traditional household role of women makes them uniquely qualified to set political priorities.

喜马偕尔邦一个村委会成员沙希基兰说，印度妇女的传统家庭角色让她们在制定优先的政治议题上具有独特能力。

Kiran says women have more perseverance and are more hardworking than men. She adds that women are more trustworthy and they understand the needs of their house and what it is that society lacks.

基兰说，印度妇女比男人更坚毅，更勤劳，更值得信赖，妇女了解家庭需要，了解社会所欠缺的事务。

The bill was passed by India's Rajya Sabha, or upper house, two years ago. Supporters are hopeful it may come to a vote as early as this month in the lower house, the Lok Sabha. It would not guarantee women's representation forever, just for three election cycles, 15 years.

两年前，印度议会上议院通过女性席次保留法案。支持者对这个法案可能最早于本月份在下议院表决抱有希望。但是，这个法案并不保证妇女永远有保留席次，法案只给予三次选举周期，也就是15年的妇女席位保留。