評論
打印
Books & arts
圖書與藝術
Johnson
約翰遜語言專欄
Unspeakable things
無法用語言表達的事
The problematic vocabulary of sexual violence
有問題的性暴力詞匯
It is a cliché that three topics should stay off-limits in polite company: politics, religion and sex. But there are times for hard conversations, and the language used to talk about sex, and particularly sexual misdeeds, remains wrapped in a gauze of misdirection and euphemism that risks contributing to harm, even when intentions are good.
人們常說，在有禮貌的場合，有三個話題是不能談的：政治、宗教和性。但有時會有艱難的對話，而用來談論性，尤其是性犯罪的語言仍然被誤導和委婉語所掩蓋，即使本意是好的，也有造成傷害的風險。
A recent case in Barcelona illustrates the power of language. Five men who gang-raped an unconscious 14-year-old girl were convicted of mere “sexual abuse”—not the graver “sexual assault”, because technically they had not used violence or intimidation, as required by the statute.
最近在巴塞羅那的一個案例表明了語言的力量。五名男子輪奸了一名失去知覺的14歲女孩，他們僅僅被判為“sexual abuse 性虐待”，而不是更嚴重的“sexual assault 性侵犯”，因為從技術上講，他們沒有使用法律所述的暴力或恐嚇。
The furious protesters who turned out in Barcelona and other cities were not angry about the court’s leniency per se: the rapists received fairly long prison sentences. Rather they are demanding that the law be changed so that “sexual assault” reflects the absence of consent, rather than the use of force. In other words, they are asking politicians to redefine that term.
在巴塞羅那和其他城市，憤怒的抗議者并沒有對法院的寬容感到憤怒：強奸犯被判了相當長的刑期。相反，他們要求修改法律，使“性侵犯”反映的是未經同意，而不是使用武力。換句話說，他們要求政客們重新定義這個詞。
There is an irony in their protest. Demonstrators shouted “No es abuso, es violación” (it’s not abuse; it’s rape). But the Spanish word “violación” itself clearly displays its etymological link to “violence”, the lack of which was at the heart of the controversy. Other European languages also reflect a historical belief that rape is, by definition, violent: Vergewaltigung in German includes Gewalt, violence, for instance.
他們的抗議帶有諷刺意味。示威者高呼“No es abuso, es violación”(這不是虐待;這是強奸)。但西班牙語單詞“violación”本身就清楚地顯示出它與“暴力”的詞源聯系，而缺乏“暴力”正是這場爭論的核心。其他歐洲語言也反映了一種歷史信仰，即強奸從定義上說就是暴力的:例如，德語中的Vergewaltigung包括Gewalt，即暴力。
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