VOA标准英语2008年-Russian Pop Star Battles Human Trafficking

Russian Pop diva Valeriya is using her star appeal and personal experience as an abused woman to help migrant workers in her homeland break free of the bonds of sexual exploitation and forced labor¹. The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration² has named Valeriya as its goodwill³ envoy⁴ for the Russian Federation⁵. She says she will use this position to try to prevent migrants from becoming victims of human trafficking. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from IOM headquarters in Geneva.
　
Russian singer Valeriya during press conference at European headquarters of UN in Geneva, Switzerland, 12 Aug 2008

Russian pop star Valeriya is wildly popular at home and in neighboring countries. She has sold 100 million CDs. She hopes to break into the British music market, where she has been dubbed⁶ the Russian Madonna, with an English version of her album Out of Control.

But, all is not as wonderful as this dazzling success would imply. Valeriya is the first one to acknowledge that appearances can be deceptive⁷.

"I consider myself as an ex-victim of slavery," she said. "I have suffered a lot from domestic violence for 10 years. I was forced to work for a man, who was my husband, and treated me - he treated me like his own slave."

Her words are at odds⁸ with the poised⁹, pretty woman saying them. She does not look like a victim. Tall, thin and elegant, Valeriya looks much younger than her 40 years. Her publicity¹⁰ photos exploit her sexy blonde good looks. In person, however, she appears simpler and more fragile. Her boyish haircut, loose bangs and big blue eyes belie¹¹ the suffering she says she had to endure during 10 years of marriage.

"My husband was a real monster," she said. "I did not know it before, but he beat me up. He cut me with knives and sexual exploitations - well, all kind of these bad things. So, I know how it is. It is not easy to talk about it."

Valeriya's husband was also her manager. She says he forced her to sign many contracts so she could not work without his permission. She says he took all her money. Finally, she says she got fed up with this abuse, took her three children and ran away to a small town where her parents lived.

"Six of us lived in their small one-bedroom flat for two years, and I was a very famous singer at that moment," she said. "But, for me it did not matter, anything. I just wanted to be free."

Valeriya believes she can draw upon her own experience as goodwill envoy for the International Organization for Migration to help people in danger of becoming victims of human trafficking.

Human trafficking frequently involves the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation. It also often involves exploitation of agricultural and sweatshop workers, as well as individuals working as domestic servants.

Since 1992, IOM reports about one-half million women left Russia in search of work in neighboring countries. It says many of them ended up being trafficked.

IOM's chief of mission in the Russian Federation, Enrico Ponziani, says, when people arrive in the country of destination, their passports and travel documents are taken away. They are confined in places where they have no freedom of movement.

"And, then, at that point, they have become basically slaves," he said. "They are fed when the trafficker wants to feed them, and then they have to do everything that they are told to do."

Ponziani says this form of modern day slavery does not just apply to sexual exploitation. It also takes the form of forced labor, where people do not get paid for the work they do.

"They are forced to do what they are told," he said. "And, if not, they are threatened, beaten; in the case of women, [they are] raped¹², etc., etc ...Trafficking is both. It touches men, women, children, everybody."

Some 260 victims of trafficking have been helped at an IOM rehabilitation¹³ center, which opened in Moscow in 2006. Many are Russians, followed by migrants from Uzbekistan, Moldova and Ukraine.

IOM's head of counter-trafficking activities worldwide, Richard Danziger, says it is impossible to get exact numbers of victims who have been trafficked, but he is sure that the 260 known victims in Moscow are just the tip of the iceberg¹⁴.

He says there has been a major change in trafficking trends. Russia is no longer a major source country.

"Russia has become a major destination country," Danziger said. "Because of the boom in the Russian economy, it is attracting migrants from all the neighboring countries. Certainly women, but also men."

Valeriya says she will always retain some wounds from her abusive life with her husband. But, she says she is using her experience to tell other women who have suffered badly not to feel sorry for themselves, but to act to rebuild their lives, as she has done.

 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

4 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

8 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

9 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

10 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

11 belie   

v.掩饰，证明为假

参考例句：

• The gentle lower slopes belie the true nature of the mountain.低缓的山坡掩盖了这座山的真实特点。
• His clothes belie his station.他的衣服掩饰了他的身分。

12 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

13 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

14 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。