印度考慮爲婦女保留議會席位

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.

爲確保印度婦女在全國政壇上佔有一席之地的一項法案可能即將進行表決。在這之前，有關內容的辯論和草擬進行了將近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.

這項法案被稱爲女性席次保留法案。該法案爲修正印度憲法以保留議會三分之一席位給婦女邁出了第一步。

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.

類似的保留名額做法已經在全國的市與地方層級中實施。支持在全國實施保留名額的人士認爲，這種做法將進一步促進性別平等，並賦予印度婦女權力。

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.

拉賈瓦特是拉賈斯坦邦一個村務委員會的領導人。她說，女性席次保留法案將解決歷史性的不平等問題。

"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."

拉賈瓦特說：“在一直都不平衡的現實情況下，就必須有驅動力量來解決這個問題。因此我認爲，這就需要有女性席次保留；以我自己來說，如果沒有爲婦女保留席次，我是不會成爲村務委員會領導人的。”

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.

支持這個法案的組織表示， 印度的傳統社會給婦女地位的提升造成嚴重阻礙。聯合國兒童基金會最近公佈的報告顯示 ，57%接受調查的印度青年男孩認爲，男人打太太是可以接受的行爲。印度的男女嬰出生率傾斜失衡，一般來說偏愛男孩，醫學專家認爲，印度家庭以選擇性墮胎方式來避免生出女嬰。

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

位於新德里的社會研究中心主任庫馬里正在推動讓女性席次保留法案獲得通過。

"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."

她說：“我認爲，給婦女的保留名額必須要執行，這是因爲政黨制度完全被男性控制，男性主導。我們還看到，政黨中的女性成員不成比例，甚至政黨的黨員資格，以及政黨的決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.

批評者認爲，這個法案只會幫助那些來自精英和富裕家庭的婦女進入政壇。他們擔心，女性席次保留法案會把較低種性的印度人，部落印度人以及穆斯林邊緣化。

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.

議員尼拉吉謝卡爾說，他不反對爲婦女保留席位，但是他希望，被保留的席位能容納更多不同的族羣。

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

謝卡爾說：“我們支持保留席位，但是應該爲設籍種性以及設籍部落的婦女，和少數族羣保留席位。”

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.

支持這個法案的人認爲，這個法案會使印度政治變得更好，使立法議程的重心迴歸到爲人民提供基本服務，例如教育和飲水。

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.

喜馬偕爾邦一個村委會成員沙希基蘭說，印度婦女的傳統家庭角色讓她們在制定優先的政治議題上具有獨特能力。

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.

基蘭說，印度婦女比男人更堅毅，更勤勞，更值得信賴，婦女瞭解家庭需要，瞭解社會所欠缺的事務。

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.

兩年前，印度議會上議院通過女性席次保留法案。支持者對這個法案可能最早於本月份在下議院表決抱有希望。但是，這個法案並不保證婦女永遠有保留席次，法案只給予三次選舉週期，也就是15年的婦女席位保留。