VOA标准英语2012--US Military Sexual Assault Victims Heal, Discuss Policy

US Military Sexual Assault Victims Heal, Discuss Policy 

Jennifer Rivera can relax when she's with her parrot Janie. The flashbacks lessen¹. The panic attacks subside². She says her nightmare began when she was raped⁴ while on military duty in South Korea. She got an abortion⁵ - but was afraid to report the crime to her commanding officer. 

“This guy made me go to work after getting a process done where I’m bleeding through my clothes. There’s no way he would have done anything about that rape³,” Rivera said.

Elizabeth Lyman says she was 11 weeks pregnant when she was raped.

"There was blood on my bed. I thought, ‘My God I’m having a miscarriage⁶. He killed my baby.’ So I froze,” Lyman said.

Her baby was fine. This week, Lyman joined Rivera and other rape survivors⁷ to discuss reforms to the military's sexual assault procedures.

The military says reports of sexual assault were up slightly last year with nearly 3,200 cases. And, it estimates 86 per cent go unreported. 

Secretary of Defense⁸ Leon Panetta is beginning new policies to combat those numbers. “We will continue to devote our energy and our intention to enforcing our department’s zero tolerance⁹ policy on sexual assault,” he said. Panetta says higher-ranked officers will now review allegations. He also wants tougher penalties and specially-trained victim units. The US military relies on a tight trust between members of individual units. 

Accusations¹⁰ against fellow service members sever¹¹ that loyalty¹² bond. Now that women make up 14 per cent of the military, rape has become a larger issue. Lyman's alleged¹³ assailant was found not guilty at a military trial. Lyman calls it "a sham¹⁴." 

"They don’t want to put servicemembers behind bars for alleged sexual assaults. They don’t want that stain on their record," Lyman said.

The military told VOA it would be inappropriate to comment on either woman's case. Rivera's charge is still pending¹⁵. By coming forward now, she hopes to inspire others. 

"I don’t want another person to go through what I went through and hold it in for years, because as years go by, you think it’s going to go away. But, it’s not going to go away. It gets worse,” Rivera said. 

She rescued her parrot several years ago. Her parrot, like Rivera, had been abused. Rivera now hopes they can teach each other how to trust again. 

1 lessen   

vt.减少，减轻；缩小

参考例句：

• Regular exercise can help to lessen the pain.经常运动有助于减轻痛感。
• They've made great effort to lessen the noise of planes.他们尽力减小飞机的噪音。

2 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 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

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 miscarriage   

n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产

参考例句：

• The miscarriage of our plans was a great blow.计划的失败给我们以巨大的打击。
• Women who smoke are more to have a miscarriage.女性吸烟者更容易流产。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

10 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

11 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

15 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。