I'll begin today by sharing a poem written by my friend from Malawi, Eileen Piri. Eileen is only 13 years old, but when we were going through the collection of poetry that we wrote, I found her poem so interesting, so motivating. So I'll read it to you. She entitled her poem "I'll Marry When I Want." (Laughter)
今天我要以 分享一首詩來開場, 作者是我在馬拉威的朋友 艾琳.琵里。 艾琳只有 13 歲, 但當我們逐一細讀 大家合著的詩集時, 我發現她的詩很有趣, 非常啟迪人心。 在此我朗誦給大家聽。 她的詩題是 《我想結婚的時候才結婚》。 (笑聲)
"I'll marry when I want. My mother can't force me to marry. My father cannot force me to marry. My uncle, my aunt, my brother or sister, cannot force me to marry. No one in the world can force me to marry. I'll marry when I want. Even if you beat me, even if you chase me away, even if you do anything bad to me, I'll marry when I want.
「我想結婚的時候才結婚。 我的母親不能逼迫我結婚。 我的父親不能逼迫我結婚。 我的伯父、阿姨、 兄弟姊妹 都不能逼迫我結婚。 世界上沒有人 可以逼迫我結婚。 我想結婚的時候才結婚。 即使你打我, 即使你追著我跑, 即使你無所不用其極, 我想結婚的時候才結婚。
I'll marry when I want, but not before I am well educated, and not before I am all grown up.
我想結婚的時候才結婚, 但要等到我學業有成, 等到我長大成人。
I'll marry when I want."
我想結婚的時候才結婚。」
This poem might seem odd, written by a 13-year-old girl, but where I and Eileen come from, this poem, which I have just read to you, is a warrior's cry.
這首詩聽起來也許奇怪, 由 13 歲女孩所寫, 但在我和艾琳的家鄉, 這首我唸給各位聽的詩, 是一位勇士的呼喊。
I am from Malawi. Malawi is one of the poorest countries, very poor, where gender equality is questionable.
我來自馬拉威, 在世界上名列極為貧窮國之一, 非常窮, 性別平等在那裡是個大問號。
Growing up in that country, I couldn't make my own choices in life. I couldn't even explore personal opportunities in life.
在那個國家成長, 我不能為自己的人生做決定。 我甚至不能探索 自己生命中的機會。
I will tell you a story of two different girls, two beautiful girls. These girls grew up under the same roof. They were eating the same food. Sometimes, they would share clothes, and even shoes. But their lives ended up differently, in two different paths. The other girl is my little sister. My little sister was only 11 years old when she got pregnant. It's a hurtful thing. Not only did it hurt her, even me. I was going through a hard time as well.
我和大家分享一個故事, 主角是兩個不同的女孩, 兩位漂亮的女孩。 她們在同一個屋簷下長大。 吃一樣的食物, 有時候她們要共用衣服, 就連鞋子也是。 但她們的生命際遇完全不同, 她們走上不同的道路。 另一位女孩是我的妹妹。 我妹妹才 11 歲大的時候 就懷孕了。 那是讓人很心痛的事。 不只是讓她心痛,也讓我心痛。 我也經歷了一段艱難時刻。
As it is in my culture, once you reach puberty stage, you are supposed to go to initiation camps. In these initiation camps, you are taught how to sexually please a man. There is this special day, which they call "Very Special Day" where a man who is hired by the community comes to the camp and sleeps with the little girls. Imagine the trauma that these young girls go through every day. Most girls end up pregnant. They even contract HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
在我的文化背景裡, 只要到了青春期階段, 大家就認為你應該要參加啟蒙營。 這些啟蒙營 會教你要怎麼在性事上取悅男人。 還有一個特別的日子, 他們稱為「非常特別日」, 社區會聘請一名男性 來到營地 和小女孩上床。 想像這些年輕女孩受的創傷 日以繼夜不斷上演。 很多女孩都懷孕了。 甚至被傳染 人類免疫缺陷病毒和愛滋病, 以及其它透過性交傳染的疾病。
For my little sister, she ended up being pregnant. Today, she's only 16 years old and she has three children. Her first marriage did not survive, nor did her second marriage.
而我小妹則是懷孕了。 現在她才 16 歲 就有三個孩子了。 她的第一段婚姻沒有長久, 第二段也是。
On the other side, there is this girl. She's amazing. (Laughter) (Applause) I call her amazing because she is. She's very fabulous. That girl is me. (Laughter) When I was 13 years old, I was told, you are grown up, you have now reached of age, you're supposed to go to the initiation camp. I was like, "What? I'm not going to go to the initiation camps." You know what the women said to me? "You are a stupid girl. Stubborn. You do not respect the traditions of our society, of our community."
而另一位女孩就在這裡, 她很優秀。 (笑聲) (掌聲) 我說她優秀是因為她名符其實, 她很傑出。 那個女孩就是我。(笑聲) 我 13 歲的時候, 也有人跟我說,你成年了, 現在你年紀到了, 應該要去參加啟蒙營。 我就回:「什麼啊?! 我才不要參加那些啟蒙營。」 你知道那女人跟我說什麼嗎? 「你這女孩真笨又固執, 你不尊重我們社會和社區的傳統。」
I said no because I knew where I was going. I knew what I wanted in life. I had a lot of dreams as a young girl. I wanted to get well educated, to find a decent job in the future. I was imagining myself as a lawyer, seated on that big chair. Those were the imaginations that were going through my mind every day. And I knew that one day, I would contribute something, a little something to my community. But every day after refusing, women would tell me, "Look at you, you're all grown up. Your little sister has a baby. What about you?" That was the music that I was hearing every day, and that is the music that girls hear every day when they don't do something that the community needs them to do.
我說你錯了, 我知道自己的未來是什麼。 我知道我的生活要有什麼。 身為青少女,我有很多夢想。 我想接受良好的教育, 未來找個好工作。 我當時想像自己變成律師, 坐在那種很大的椅子上。 那些想像 每天在我腦海裡浮現。 我知道總有一天, 我會貢獻, 貢獻棉薄之力給我的社區。 但拒絕後的每一天, 那些女人就會跟我說: 「看看你,你都長大了, 你小妹都有孩子了, 你呢?」 這是每天不斷在我耳邊 重覆播放的魔音。 這是每天不斷在女孩耳邊 重覆播放的魔音, 只要她們拒絕社區的要求 就會聽到一樣的話。
When I compared the two stories between me and my sister, I said, "Why can't I do something? Why can't I change something that has happened for a long time in our community?"
我對照自己和小妹的故事, 我自問: 「為什麼我不能做點什麼? 為什麼我不能改變 在我們社區發生很久的事情?」
That was when I called other girls just like my sister, who have children, who have been in class but they have forgotten how to read and write. I said, "Come on, we can remind each other how to read and write again, how to hold the pen, how to read, to hold the book." It was a great time I had with them. Nor did I just learn a little about them, but they were able to tell me their personal stories, what they were facing every day as young mothers. That was when I was like, 'Why can't we take all these things that are happening to us and present them and tell our mothers, our traditional leaders, that these are the wrong things?" It was a scary thing to do, because these traditional leaders, they are already accustomed to the things that have been there for ages. A hard thing to change, but a good thing to try.
當時我就打了幾通電話給其他女生, 她們就像我妹妹一樣有小孩, 之前一直有上學, 但是已經忘了怎麼讀書寫字。 我告訴她們:「來呀, 我們可以幫彼此複習 怎麼重新讀書和寫字, 怎麼拿筆、讀書和拿書。」 我和她們共處的那段時光非常美好。 雖然我只是稍微認識她們而已, 但是她們會告訴我她們的故事、 她們每天碰到的事, 身為人母的事。 當時我就想: 「為什麼我們不能把所有 發生在我們身上的事, 呈現給她們看, 告訴我們的母親、傳統領袖 這些都是錯的事?」 要做這件事很恐怖, 因為這些傳統領袖 都已經習慣 這些幾百年的傳統了。 改變是難事, 但嘗試是好事。
So we tried. It was very hard, but we pushed. And I'm here to say that in my community, it was the first community after girls pushed so hard to our traditional leader, and our leader stood up for us and said no girl has to be married before the age of 18. (Applause)
因此我們嘗試了。 真的很難,但我們努力推動。 今天我在此告訴大家, 我的社區是第一個 女生這麼努力 改變傳統領袖的社區, 我們的領袖支持我們, 並宣布女孩若要結婚 必須年滿 18 歲。 (掌聲)
In my community, that was the first time a community, they had to call the bylaws, the first bylaw that protected girls in our community.
我的社區 是第一個 必須動用地方法的社區, 第一個保護女孩的地方法 就在我們社區。
We did not stop there. We forged ahead. We were determined to fight for girls not just in my community, but even in other communities. When the child marriage bill was being presented in February, we were there at the Parliament house. Every day, when the members of Parliament were entering, we were telling them, "Would you please support the bill?" And we don't have much technology like here, but we have our small phones. So we said, "Why can't we get their numbers and text them?" So we did that. It was a good thing. (Applause) So when the bill passed, we texted them back, "Thank you for supporting the bill." (Laughter) And when the bill was signed by the president, making it into law, it was a plus. Now, in Malawi, 18 is the legal marriage age, from 15 to 18. (Applause)
我們沒有就此罷手。 我們快馬加鞭。 我們下定決心, 不只要為我們社區的女孩而戰, 還要為其它社區的女孩而戰。 兒童婚姻法案二月備查時, 我們就待在國會。 每天只要有議員進來, 我們就會對他們說: 「可以請你支持法案嗎?」 我們沒有很多 跟這裡一樣的科技, 但是我們有自己小小的電話。 我們想:「何不找出他們的電話號碼, 然後傳簡訊給他們?」 後來我們真的這樣做了,那是好事。 (掌聲) 法案通過之後,我們再傳簡訊: 「謝謝你支持法案。」 (笑聲) 總統簽署法案之後, 就能納入法律,這更好。 現在在馬拉威, 18 歲是合法結婚的年紀, 從 15 歲提高到 18 歲。 (掌聲)
It's a good thing to know that the bill passed, but let me tell you this: There are countries where 18 is the legal marriage age, but don't we hear cries of women and girls every day? Every day, girls' lives are being wasted away. This is high time for leaders to honor their commitment. In honoring this commitment, it means keeping girls' issues at heart every time. We don't have to be subjected as second, but they have to know that women, as we are in this room, we are not just women, we are not just girls, we are extraordinary. We can do more.
知道法案通過是好事, 但讓我告訴各位: 雖然在很多國家 合法結婚年齡是 18 歲, 但我們就因此沒有日夜聽見 婦女和女孩哭泣的聲音了嗎? 每天都有女孩的生命平白浪費。 現在正是領袖實踐諾言的時候, 實踐諾言 意謂著時時刻刻 將女孩的議題放在心上。 我們不必然要居次位, 但他們要知道女人 就如同在場的女性, 我們不只是女人, 我們不只是女孩, 我們出類拔萃。 我們可以做得更多。
And another thing for Malawi, and not just Malawi but other countries: The laws which are there, you know how a law is not a law until it is enforced? The law which has just recently passed and the laws that in other countries have been there, they need to be publicized at the local level, at the community level, where girls' issues are very striking. Girls face issues, difficult issues, at the community level every day. So if these young girls know that there are laws that protect them, they will be able to stand up and defend themselves because they will know that there is a law that protects them.
另一件關於馬拉威的事情, 不只事關馬拉威, 也與其它國家有關: 我們有現成的法律, 你知道法律在真正執行前 算不上是法律嗎? 這條法律最近才剛通過, 而這條法律在其它國家早已實施, 他們需要推展宣傳到全國各地, 要讓社區人盡皆知, 因為女孩的議題非常重要。 每天各個社區 都有女孩的議題、難題。 如果年輕女孩知道有法律保護她們, 她們就可以起身反抗、保護自己, 因為她們知道有法律保護她們。
And another thing I would say is that girls' voices and women's voices are beautiful, they are there, but we cannot do this alone. Male advocates, they have to jump in, to step in and work together. It's a collective work. What we need is what girls elsewhere need: good education, and above all, not to marry whilst 11.
另一件事是關於 女孩與女人的聲音 很美妙,她們已投入其中, 但是我們不能孤軍奮戰。 男性提倡者必須投入、 介入,並共同努力。 我們需要大家一起合作。 其它地方女孩和我們需要的一樣: 良好的教育,最重要的是 不在 11 歲就結婚。
And furthermore, I know that together, we can transform the legal, the cultural and political framework that denies girls of their rights. I am standing here today and declaring that we can end child marriage in a generation. This is the moment where a girl and a girl, and millions of girls worldwide, will be able to say, "I will marry when I want."
此外, 我知道只要攜手合作, 我們就可以改革法律、 文化與政治的框架, 那些侷限女孩權力的框架。 今天我站在這裡, 宣告我們可以在一個世代間 終止兒童婚姻。 此時此刻, 每一位女孩, 以及全世界無數的女孩, 都可以說: 「我想要結婚的時候才結婚。」
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you. (Applause)
謝謝。(掌聲)