【加德满都邮报精读】尼泊尔女孩正陷入“月经贫困”（上）

　　【加德满都邮报精读】尼泊尔女孩正陷入“月经贫困”（上）*注：本文摘自9月2日《加德满都邮报》

　　Period poverty in the time of a pandemic新冠期间的月经贫困（编者按：月经贫困是指受落后观念、月经税和贫穷等因素的制约，女性无法在生理期获得用于生理期卫生管理的基本物资）For the past five months, sanitary napkins have not reached many remote villages, forcing girls to go back to using unhygienic methods.过去五个月来，许多偏远农村都没有卫生巾，女孩子们不得不重新使用之前不卫生的方法应对生理期

　　1. On the day the government announced the nationwide lockdown in March, Sneha was on the first day of her period. Fearing she would have no access to sanitary napkins during the lockdown, she rushed to a nearby shop to buy a pack of sanitary pads. While in the shop, she noticed that the shelves for menstrual products were almost empty.

　　今年三月政府宣布全国封锁那天，Sneha正是惊奇第一天。由于担心封锁期间买不到卫生巾，她急忙跑到附近的一家商店买了一包。在商店里，她注意到经期用品已经快卖完了。

　　2. “I knew then the pandemic would cause a shortage of sanitary pads in our village in no time,” said the 16-year-old from Bajhang, whose village has only one pharmacy.

　　这个16岁的姑娘说，“那时候我就知道，疫情很快会导致我们村卫生巾短缺。”她们村里只有一家药店。

　　3. And her concern came true. Ever since the lockdown was clamped on March 24, most of the shops in Dhamilekh, Sneha’s village, have remained shut—even after the lockdown was lifted for a few weeks. Those shops that opened, meanwhile, had run out of menstrual products. “We have been deprived of sanitary pads throughout the lockdown since the shops are unable to restock because transportation facilities were closed,” said Sneha, who asked to be identified by her first name only.

　　她的担心变成了事实。自从3月24日实施封锁以来，Sneha所在d的Dhamilekh村大部分商店一直都关着，即使是封锁解除之后的几周也是如此。而在那些开业的商店中，经期用品早就已经售罄。Sneha说:“在封锁期间，我们没有卫生巾，因为交通关闭，商店无法进货。”

　　4. According to Sneha, the unavailability of sanitary napkins has forced her to go back to using pieces of cloth, which she describes as “uncomfortable.”

　　Sneha说，由于没有卫生巾，她不得不重新使用小布条，她说这很不舒服。

　　5. It is no secret that Nepali women face many challenges during their periods, especially in rural areas, where there is a severe lack of menstrual hygiene awareness. Sanitary napkins are brought in limited numbers and they come quite expensive. As a result, many women are forced to use unhygienic means—including rags, old pieces of clothes, even leaves—during their monthly cycle, increasing their risk of contracting reproductive tract infections and more severe diseases like cervical cancer. A 2016 report on menstrual health and hygiene management in Nepal found that a staggering 83 percent of menstruating girls still use cloth while only 15 percent use sanitary pads.

　　众所周知，尼泊尔妇女在经期面临着许多困难，特别是在严重缺乏经期卫生意识的农村地区。卫生巾数量有限，而且价格昂贵。因此，很多妇女不得不用那些不是很卫生的方法来应对经期，包括破布，旧衣服甚至树叶，这增加了她们生殖道感染和一些更严重的疾病比如宫颈癌的风险。尼泊尔2016年一份关于月经健康和卫生管理的报告发现，83%的女孩经期仍然使用布，只有15%使用卫生巾，这很让人震惊。

　　6. And now, as many parts of the country continues to be forced into another lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, gender rights activists are concerned that this has led to a rise in period poverty—a phenomenon already existing in rural Nepal where women are deprived of basic menstrual health facilities, such as access to safe sanitary products, toilets and menstrual health education.

　　如今，尼泊尔许多地区被迫再次封锁以遏制新冠病毒传播，性别人权活动人士担心这会加剧月经贫困。月经贫困是一个在尼泊尔长期存在的现象，指的是尼泊尔农村妇女缺乏基本的月经保健设施，比如获得安全的卫生用品，厕所和经期卫生教育。

　　7. “Periods don’t stop for a pandemic,” said Ashwin Karki, an activist for dignified menstruation and coordinator of Amnesty International Nepal’s Barahi Youth Network. “Yet not much has been spoken about how the pandemic has forced girls and women to compromise with their menstrual hygiene in the absence of sanitary products, despite the fact these products are extremely essential like food, water and shelter.”

　　倡导庄体面经的活动人士、大赦国际(Amnesty International)尼泊尔巴拉希青年网络协调员Ashwin Karki说，“月经不会因为疫情而停止，然而，人们对女性在缺乏卫生用品的情况下只能妥协使用不卫生的方式应对经期却避而不谈，尽管这些卫生用品和食物，水，住宅一样必要。”

　　精读解析

　　篇章结构P1—P4：Sneha及其所在的村庄在疫情期间严重缺乏卫生巾。P5：尼泊尔妇女面临月经贫困。P6—P7：新冠疫情加剧尼泊尔的月经贫困。

　　重点单词sanitary napkin卫生巾; 卫生棉;

　　unhygienic / ʌ nha ɪ 'd ʒ i ː n ɪ k/ adj. 不卫生的,不清洁的【例句】Unhygienic conditions give rise to disease.卫生条件不好会导致疾病。

　　menstrual /'menstrʊəl/ adj. 月经的,行经期的【例句】Additionally, there is a 15 percent value added tax on many menstrual health products.此外，许多月经保健产品还要加收15％的增值税。

　　in no time 立刻，很快

　　in less than no time adv. 马上【例句】They finished the task in no time.他们一下子就完成了任务。

　　pharmacy /' fɑ:məsi / n. 药房；制药业；配药学，药剂学；一批备用药品【例句】Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

　　clamp /klæmp/ vt. 夹紧，固定住n. 夹钳，螺丝钳【短语】clamp down 取缔；施加压力，强行压制clamp down on （对…）进行压制（或取缔）【例句】Try to clamp these two blocks of wood together.试着把这两块木头夹在一起。

　　deprive of vt. 剥夺；失去be deprived of 被剥夺，被夺去【例句】The criminals were deprived of their civil rights.罪犯们被剥夺了公民权。

　　restock / ˌ ri:'st ɔ k/ vt. 重新进货；再储存；补充货源；补足【例句】Stores closing early just so they can restock shelves.商店为了补充库存提早关门。

　　transportation /trænsp ɔ ː 'te ɪʃ ( ə )n/ n. 运送, 运输；运输工具；流放, 放逐【例句】The transportation of goods by air costs a lot.航空运输货物花费很高。

　　unavailability /' ʌnə,velə'bɪləti / n. 无效;没有利用率【例句】In Nigeria, unavailability of cutting-edge technology does not discourage entrepreneurs in the search for innovative housing solutions.在尼日利亚，尽管缺少尖端技术，但这并没有妨碍企业家们寻找创新的建筑方法。

　　cervical cancer宫颈癌【例句】The HPV virus also causes half a million cases of cervical cancer each year.每年，HPV病毒还会导致五十万例宫颈癌病患。

　　staggering /'stæɡərɪŋ/ adj. 难以置信的;令人震惊的【例句】The sheer volume of fiction produced is staggering.完成的小说数量之巨令人吃惊。

　　coordinator /kəʊˈ ɔ:dɪneɪtə / n. 协调者；同等的人(或物)【例句】One, President Obama's appointing an Ebola response coordinator.首先是奥巴马总统任命了一名埃博拉问题应对协调员。

　　compromise with 妥协【例句】Setting the tone for talks with congressional leaders, Mr Obama said he was open to cooperation and compromise with Republicans.奥巴马为与国会领导人的会谈定下了基调，他说愿意与共和党开诚布公地合作和妥协。

　　in the absence of缺乏，不存在；无…时，缺少…时【例句】Things can rapidly deteriorate in the absence of treatment.如果没有治疗则会急剧恶化。

　　重点句子

　　And now, as many parts of the country continues to be forced into another lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, gender rights activists are concerned that this has led to a rise in period poverty—a phenomenon already existing in rural Nepal where women are deprived of basic menstrual health facilities, such as access to safe sanitary products, toilets and menstrual health education.

　　这个句子的主干是：gender rights activists are concerned that+宾语从句。前面的And now时间状语，说明现在说的是当前的情况，后面的as many parts of the country continues to be forced into another lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19是一个as引导的时间状语，说明主干部分事件是在什么情况下发生的。后面的that引导的宾语从句that this has led to a rise in period poverty—a phenomenon already existing in rural Nepal where women are deprived of basic menstrual health facilities, such as access to safe sanitary products, toilets and menstrual health education中，主干是：this has led to a rise in period poverty，破折号后面的内容：a phenomenon already existing in rural Nepal where women are deprived of basic menstrual health facilities, such as access to safe sanitary products, toilets and menstrual health education.是对前面提及的period poverty的解释，说明period poverty是一个什么样的现象。