Juhi Nondi, a 20-year-old college student, takes the train every day to and from school here, toting a satchel of textbooks and looking stylish in her skinny jeans and T-shirts─and long, sharp fingernails.
朱希?侬迪(Juhi Nondi)是一名20岁的大学女生，她每天都要提着一个书包乘火车在加尔各答郊区的巴拉萨特(Barasat)和学校之间往返。她穿着紧身牛仔裤和T恤衫，外型时尚，而且还留着锋利的长指甲。
'They're not just for fashion,' she says of her pink nails, 'but also for self-defense.'
她在谈到自己的粉色指甲时说道：“留着它们不只是为了时尚，也为了保护自己。”
Aggressive sexual harassment is a daily part of her commute in this bustling suburb of Kolkata. A man grabbed her breast one morning, she says. Another day, someone grabbed her hip. Friends carry chili powder, she says, to throw in the eyes of an assailant, a sort of homemade pepper spray.
极具侵犯性的性骚扰成为了她在喧闹的巴拉萨特坐火车往返学校的日常组成部分。她说有一天早晨一名男子袭击了她的胸部，还有一天被人捏了臀部。她的朋友们会携带辣椒粉，将一种自制的辣椒喷雾喷进袭击者的眼中。
'If I'm even a half-hour late coming home, my parents panic,' Ms. Nondi says.
她说：“哪怕我只晚了半个小时到家，我的父母就会很恐慌。”
Barasat, which boasts a shopping mall, a KFC restaurant and a growing number of women in the workplace, is a typical, if modest Indian economic success story. But it is typical of urban India in another way, too: Here and nationwide, women say harassment of women is a fixture of daily life.
巴拉萨特有一家购物中心和一家肯德基(KFC)，工作场所也出现了越来越多的女性。该地区在经济上取得的成功（即便只是一般的成功）算得上是印度的一个典型。此外，它在另一个方面也是印度各城市的典型──在这儿以及印度各地，女性们都表示性骚扰已成为她们日常生活中的常事。
In December, India's climate of sexual violence burst onto the world's consciousness after a young woman on a bus in New Delhi was so brutally gang-raped and assaulted that she died of her injuries. That attack provoked nationwide protests and prompted national introspection about the broader spectrum of harassment─from stalking to groping─that often goes unpunished and can lead to more aggravated assault, experts say.
去年12月，继一名在新德里搭乘巴士的年轻女孩因遭到残忍的轮奸和殴打而受伤去世之后，国际社会突然意识到了印度的性暴力风气。此次暴力事件在全印度引发了抗议活动，促使印度国民开始反思性骚扰的问题──从跟踪到抚摸身体，性骚扰的形式越来越多样，而且据专家们称，这些行为常常不会遭到惩罚，因而可能会引发更加恶劣的侵犯。
Here in Barasat, interviews with two dozen women yielded consistent stories of recent and repeated harassment. Men trail women on foot or on scooters, making crude remarks and grabbing at the scarf worn to cover the chest. It happens at the train station, they said, in the fish-market lane, on the road to the university and outside the police station.
在巴拉萨特，记者对二十余名女性的采访发现，她们基本都在最近遭遇过骚扰或者以前曾经不断地受到骚扰。常常有男子走路或骑摩托车跟踪她们，对她们说粗野露骨的话，伸手抓她们围着遮挡胸部的围巾。她们说她们常在火车站、鱼市的小路、去往学校的路上甚至是警局门外遭到骚扰。
Many women interviewed complained that police do little to stop it. One local officer, when asked about that by a reporter, responded: 'If these incidents don't happen, what will happen to our jobs?'
许多受访女性控诉警方几乎没有采取什么行动来制止性骚扰。巴拉萨特当地一名警员在回应一名记者对此事的提问时说道：“如果不出现这些事情，我们的饭碗怎么办？”
A senior Barasat police official said the police take all complaints seriously. The police said the department couldn't provide hard numbers on harassment complaints, arrests or convictions.
当地一名高级警员称，警方对所有投诉都认真对待。警方称，警局不能提供有关性骚扰投诉、拘捕或定罪的确切数字。
Women say they travel in groups, some carrying sharp objects─safety pins, pocket knives─to discourage harassers. Still, occasionally there are more serious assaults. In early 2011, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death trying to protect his 22-year-old sister, Rinku Das, as she returned home one evening from her call-center job.
女士们说她们会结伴出行，有些人还会携带安全别针和小折刀等锋利物品以赶跑骚扰者。尽管如此，偶尔还是会出现非常严重的袭击。2011年初的一天夜里，一名16岁的男孩在护送自己的姐姐、22岁的琳库?达斯(Rinku Das)从客服中心下班的途中因试图保护她而被人刺死。
As usual, her brother picked her up on his bicycle from the station, Ms. Das says. Three men blocked the bike, she says, poured alcohol on her, and attacked her brother as he sprang to her defense.
达斯回忆道，那天晚上弟弟像往常一样骑着自行车到车站接她，三名男子堵住了自行车的去路，往她身上倒酒，并在弟弟奋力保护她时对他发起攻击。
As her brother was being beaten with bamboo canes, Ms. Das says, she pounded on a nearby senior police officer's bungalow. The guards outside told her they couldn't help. 'I screamed and shouted for help in the middle of the street,' she says.
她说，在弟弟遭受竹条殴打时，她跑到附近一名高级警官的住处前用力敲门，门外的警卫告诉她他们无能为力。她说：“我站在街中央尖叫，大声呼救。”
Kalyan Banerjee, the main police officer dealing with Ms. Das's case, said the bungalow guards aren't allowed to leave their posts.
处理达斯一案的主要警员卡尔扬?班纳吉(Kalyan Banerjee)说，警官住处的警卫不得离开岗位。
The three alleged attackers face murder charges and have pleaded not guilty. They are in judicial custody.
那三名嫌疑人现面临谋杀指控，他们都辩护自己无罪，目前正遭到司法监禁。
After the killing, police say, they intensified patrols, put more plainclothes officers on the street and opened a new women's police station across from the Barasat Government College. From there, 18 female officers patrol high-frequency harassment areas.
警方称他们在这起命案发生之后加强了巡逻，增派了更多便衣警察上街，并在巴拉萨特政府学院(Barasat Government College)对面新设了一家女子警局。来自该警局的18名女警员会在性骚扰高发地区巡逻。
But the roots of the problem run deep, starting in childhood. Across India, daughters are often less valued than sons─a reality that shows up in India's skewed gender ratios.
然而，性骚扰问题的源头根深蒂固，从人们的童年时期便已开始。在印度各地，女儿往往没有儿子受重视，这一事实也在印度失衡的性别比例中得到体现。
India has 37 million more men than women, partly because the preference for sons prompts sex-selective abortions and infanticide. Women also have a higher overall mortality rate than men, partly because of bias and neglect over a lifetime, according to recent research, as well as mortality during childbirth.
印度的男性数量比女性多出3700万，部分是因为对儿子的偏爱导致人们选择性别堕胎和杀婴。此外，近期也有研究显示，女性的总死亡率也高于男性，其中一部分原因是她们在一生当中都遭到歧视和忽视，另一部分原因则是有些女性在分娩期间死亡。
Some argue that the harassment is a byproduct of economic growth in places like Barasat. A few decades ago, Barasat was a dirt-road town of a few thousand people. Today it is a growing suburb of sprawling Kolkata, with apartment buildings and gated communities with names like Fortune Township. The population tops a quarter-million.
有些人认为，性骚扰是像巴拉萨特这样的地方经济发展的副产物。在几十年前，巴拉萨特还是一个只有数千人口、全是泥土路的小镇，如今它成为了不断扩张的加尔各答的郊区，处于发展之中，兴建起一座座公寓楼和拥有像“Fortune Township”这样的名字的封闭式社区，现在其人口超过了25万。
Men and women alike have benefited greatly, but society remains deeply conservative. 'For generations, men haven't seen women so empowered,' says Mayank Saksena, an executive at consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle who has developed real estate in Barasat and has studied the town closely. 'It builds jealousy and envy.'
男性与女性均从中获益匪浅，但是社会依然极度保守。咨询公司仲量联行(Jones Lang LaSalle)的高管马彦克?萨克塞纳(Mayank Saksena)说：“多少代人以来，男性从未看到过女性如此强大，这导致了他们的嫉妒与羡慕。”
In particular, men lacking enough formal education to climb the economic ladder may find casual work as food vendors, rickshaw pullers, drivers or laborers, which might pay about $100 per month. Around them, in Barasat, they see growing numbers of young, modern women making their way to colleges and call centers.
特别是那些缺乏足够的正规教育因而无法提升经济地位的男性可能会从事食品商贩、人力车夫、司机或是工人等月薪或许只有100美元左右的临时工作。在巴拉萨特，他们发现身边有越来越多的年轻摩登的女性开始上大学或是进入呼叫中心工作。
A report commissioned by the Indian government after the Delhi rape and murder described the danger nationwide of 'young, prospect-less men' whose frustrations are 'lending intensity to a pre-existing culture of sexual violence.'
一份在新德里轮奸及谋杀案发生后由印度政府委托所作的报告描述了全印度各地普遍存在的“前途渺茫的年轻男性”的沮丧情绪“加剧早前已存在的性暴力文化”的危险。
In response to that report, the government this month enacted a temporary ordinance that cracks down on various types of sexual harassment and assault. For example, 'unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures' are punishable with up to five years in prison, while 'making sexually coloured remarks' can yield a one-year jail term. Parliament must ratify the ordinance to make it permanent, otherwise it will expire in several weeks.
为应对这份报告所提出的问题，印度政府在2月份颁布了一项打击各种类型的性骚扰和性侵犯行为的临时法令。其中，“令人不悦的公然的性挑逗”最高可遭到监禁五年的处罚，而“说带有性意味的言语”可被判入狱一年。这项法令必须获得内阁的批准才能成为永久性法律，否则它将在几个星期后失效。
Anima Sarkar, a political-science student, described an encounter with three Barasat men late last year. The 23-year-old and three of her male friends were walking the few hundred yards from the college to the train station, when the men started verbally harassing her, she says. 'Women are like a commodity, a product,' she recalled one of them saying. 'You are a good product.'
政治学系学生阿尼玛?萨卡尔(Anima Sarkar)讲述了在去年年底遭到三名巴拉萨特男子骚扰的事情。23岁的她和三名男性友人走在从学校通往火车站的那条几百码长的路上时，那几名男子开始对她进行言语骚扰。她回忆称其中一名男子说道：“女人就像商品，像产品，你这件产品不错。”
She scolded one of them, she says, by asking: 'Don't you have a sister or mother at home?'
她说她斥责了其中一人，问道：“你家里难道没有姐妹和母亲吗？”
A skirmish ensued between the men and Ms. Sarkar's friends. One man grabbed her scarf and hand, she says, and she slapped him.
接下来那群男子与萨卡尔的朋友们爆发了冲突。她说有一名男子抓住她的围巾和手，于是她煽了他一巴掌。
Bystanders intervened and dragged one of the alleged attackers, Tapan Sen, down the street to the police station. Police later tracked down two other suspects, Mintu Sarkar (no relation to Anima), and Raju Biswas.
围观者施以援手，将其中一名袭击者塔潘?森(Tapan Sen)拉拽至街尾的警察局。警方后来追查到了另外两名嫌犯──明图?萨卡尔(Mintu Sarkar，与阿尼玛没有亲属关系)和拉祖?比斯瓦斯(Raju Biswas)。
The men, who spent a night in jail, are out on bail as police investigate harassment-related charges. None has been charged with any wrongdoing. In interviews, they say they were out shopping that night and encountered Ms. Sarkar but deny harassing or assaulting her. They allege that a fourth man, whom they know by the nickname 'The Master,' insulted and groped her.
这三名男子在监狱里呆了一个晚上，他们在警方调查骚扰相关指控期间获保释出狱，无一人被指控有任何违法行为。这些人在采访中称他们在那晚外出购物时遇到了阿尼玛，但否认骚扰和侵犯了她。他们指称另一名他们认识的绰号名为“老师”(The Master)的男子侮辱和抚摸了阿尼玛。
Mr. Sen, 23, is a part-time driver who dropped out of school after ninth grade to work at a car-repair shop. He earns about $75 a month.
在这三人中，23岁的森是一名兼职司机，他在读完九年级后辍学进入一家汽车修理店工作。其每个月的收入约为75美元。
Mr. Sarkar, 34 years old, owns a shop that makes door and window frames. 'I really began this business from scratch,' he said. He is unmarried and lives with his parents, two elder brothers and their wives. He has a high-school diploma.
今年34的明图?萨卡尔有一家制作门框和窗框的店铺。他说：“我是真正白手起家开起这家店的。”他拥有高中文凭，至今未婚，与父母和两个哥哥及嫂子住在一起。
Mr. Biswas is a 23-year-old orphan with a wife, a 3-year-old daughter and no formal education. He says he makes about $150 a month as a contract laborer in Mr. Sarkar's shop, getting paid according to the number of pieces he makes.
今年23岁的比斯瓦斯是一名孤儿，已婚并有一个三岁的女儿，没有接受过正规教育。他说他在明图?萨卡尔的店铺做一名合同工，每个月大约挣150美元，领取的是计件工资。
The men described the fourth man, The Master, as a middle-aged, part-time teacher who hung around their window-and-door-making shop. 'He would stare lewdly at women passing by in the market,' Mr. Biswas said.
他们称第四名男子──“老师”──是一名中年兼职教师，经常在他们的门窗店铺附近游荡。比斯瓦斯说：“他会在市场中用猥亵的眼光盯着路过的女性看。”
According to Mr. Biswas's account, The Master was with them the night of the attack. He spoke to Ms. Sarkar and lunged at her, but then disappeared into the crowd, Mr. Biswas alleges, leaving the others to take the blame.
根据比斯瓦斯的描述，“老师”在袭击那晚和他们在一起。他和阿尼玛有过言语交谈，然后向她扑去，但是后来混在人群中消失，留下其他人承担过错。
The Master couldn't be reached for comment. Police said they were unaware of him and his alleged role in the attack.
记者未能联系到“老师”置评。警方称他们不知道“老师”其人及其在这次袭击中扮演的角色。
After the incident, Ms. Sarkar says, her neighbors told her parents that she must have done something wrong─that somehow the attack was her fault. Her parents grounded her for weeks, so she lost her job tutoring kids in math and science.
阿尼玛说，在发生这件事情后，邻居对她的父母说她肯定做了什么不对的事情──从某种角度来说这次袭击是她的错。她的父母将她禁足了几个星期，她为此丢掉了为小孩辅导数学和科学课程的家教工作。
Ms. Sarkar, the daughter of a fruit vendor whose family of four lives on about $100 a month, plans to go to law school, but not in Barasat. 'My friends and I say it's better if we run away from here when we graduate,' she says.
阿尼玛的父亲是一名水果商贩，她们的四口之家依靠每个月大约100美元的收入维持生计。她计划以后去读法学院，但不准备在巴拉萨特读。她说：“我和朋友们都认为如果我们在毕业时逃离这儿肯定会更好。”
Police say they are investigating charges of harassing a woman with intent to 'outrage her modesty.' Before the new ordinance, it was the only crime in India's criminal code dealing with harassment of women.
警方表示他们正在调查那些有关怀着“冒犯其尊严”的意图骚扰女性的指控。在那项新临时法令颁布之前，这是印度的刑法中唯一一条涉及对女性进行性骚扰问题的罪名。
The law allows for a maximum of two years' imprisonment. In practice, such punishments are rare. Maheshwar Banerjee, public prosecutor in Barasat, said that he can't recall any harassment case since he took charge of the office in October 2011 that resulted in punishment.
此类行为最高可判两年。在实际执法过程中，此类惩罚非常少见。巴拉萨特检察官马哈什瓦尔?班纳吉(Maheshwar Banerjee)称，自从他在2011年10月上任以来，他不记得有任何一起性骚扰案件遭到了惩罚。
Often, the complainants don't appear in court because they are afraid of tarnishing their family's image or hurting their marriage prospects, he said. 'The women's families don't like to pursue the cases,' he said.
他指出，性骚扰控诉常常不会诉诸法庭，因为受害女性害怕这样会玷污家庭的形象或是破坏她们的婚姻前景，因此那些女性的家庭不愿意提起诉讼。
The areas where women complain harassment is most commonplace are the busy markets and intersections near the train station and the heart of town. One lane from the station passes the local courthouse. The other lane begins at a police station, passes a fish market and vegetable vendors and reaches the office of the District Magistrate, the most senior official.
女性控诉性骚扰事件最高发的地方是繁忙的市场、火车站附近的十字路口和市中心地区。其中有一条路始于火车站的小巷经过当地的法院，另一条路始于警局，经过一家鱼市和一批蔬菜摊、最后达到当地最高长官──地方行政官──的办公地。
The streets are packed with bicycle rickshaws and shoppers visiting jewelry stores, Internet cafes and snack vendors. Men gather at the tea stall on the road to the college.
这些街道上满是人力车、逛珠宝店的购物者、网吧以及小吃摊贩。通往大学的那条路上的茶摊上总是聚集着一群男子。
Behind the college is an alley known for illegal liquor shops, where men drink and gamble. Barasat has one police officer for every 1,030 people─just about India's average─compared with one policeman per 390 people in the U.S. and one per 236 people in New York City.
在大学的后方是一条以非法酒铺闻名的小巷，不少男性聚集在那儿喝酒赌博。巴拉萨特警员与居民的比例是一比1,030，大约只是印度的平均水平。相比之下，美国的警员与居民比为一比390，纽约市的比例则达到了一比236。
Some policemen appear more concerned about being punished for not stopping harassment than protecting women from such incidents, according to several women interviewed who commute regularly by train.
几名经常乘火车通勤的受访女性称，一些警员更关心的似乎是不要因为没有阻止性骚扰而受到处分，而不是保护女性免受性骚扰。
Shumi Kundu, 22, says that last month she had an encounter with two police officers that left the impression they were more concerned about their own well-being than hers. At the time, she was sitting on a bench at a train platform. The cops approached her and asked her to leave.
现年22岁的舒米?坎都(Shumi Kundu)说，她在上个月碰到的两名警员让她觉得他们更关心的是自己的利益而不是她的利益。当时她正坐在一个火车站站台的长凳上，那两名警察走到她身旁要她离开。
'They said if I didn't leave and something bad happened to me, they'd be blamed for it,' Ms. Kundu said.
坎都说：“他们说如果我不离开，要是我出了事的话，他们就会为此受到责罚。”
A.K. Sarkar, an official in the Barasat Railway Police, which is in charge of security on train platforms, said officers take their duties seriously. 'If anything at all happens, then we go and intervene,' he said.
巴拉萨特铁路警局负责铁路站台安全工作的警员A.K.萨卡尔(A.K. Sarkar)称，警员们都认真对待他们的职责。他说：“如果有任何事情发生，我们都会出动干预。”