CNN News:婦女頂起半邊天

In many public areas in Saudi Arabia, women and men are separated. It`s a country that`s been criticized for women`s rights, but things there are changing.

在沙特阿拉伯許多公共場所，男士和女士是分開的。沙特阿拉伯是一個女權遭到批評的國家，但是現(xiàn)在情況在發(fā)生變化。

I`ve spent years covering the Middle East and the Gulf region, and the issue of women`s rights in Saudi Arabia often comes up.

數(shù)年來，我一直在報道中東和海灣地區(qū)，總之，沙特地區(qū)經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)關于婦女權利的問題。

The kingdom is an absolute monarchy, ruled by the al-Saud family. Now, they govern according to a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam.

沙特為君主專制，由al-Saud家族統(tǒng)治國家?，F(xiàn)在，他們根據(jù)遜尼派嚴格的解釋來進行統(tǒng)治。

Women need a permission of a male guardian to travel, to work, to attend higher education or to marry. But Saudi Arabia does have a very young population, median age there just 26. Many of them that I`ve spoken to say that the role of women in the country is evolving.

女性需要男性的監(jiān)護才可以去旅游、工作、接受高等教育、甚至結婚。但是沙特的人口結構年輕化，平均年齡在26歲。我采訪的很多人都表示，該國女性的角色在逐漸改變。

Now, 2015 marked the first year that Saudi women were allowed to campaign for public office and to register to vote at the municipal level. And that came two years after the former King Abdullah decreed that women must make up at least 20 percent of the Shura Council. Now, that is an appointed body that drafts laws and advises the king of many issues.

2015年沙特首次允許女性競選公職和市級登記投票。而在兩年前，前任國王阿卜杜拉規(guī)定埃及協(xié)商會議女性比例至少為20%。現(xiàn)在，這一主體機構起草法律并向國王建議了很多問題。

More Saudi women are also joining the work force. Only about 19 percent of them currently perform paid work, but the Saudi government says their numbers have risen considerably from 23,000 in 2004 to over 400,000 in 2014.

現(xiàn)在越來越多的婦女在參加勞動。但目前，只有19%的女性做的是有償工作。沙特政府表明從事有償工作的婦女數(shù)量在大幅增長，從2004年的23,000增長到2014年的400,000.

Now, women are still required to cover their hair and wear long clothing in public, but in many malls and hotels these days, women are seen without head scarves. Perhaps the most visible sign of women`s rights in Saudi, or not as the case may be, is that they are not allowed to drive. All the women I`ve met there tell me they are often frustrated by the West`s focus on this topic, and they feel it ignores the other positive steps they say have been made. But proponents for change say allowing women to drive would be a big step towards opening other doors of opportunity.

盡管，現(xiàn)在在公共場合婦女仍要求穿長衣、蓋頭發(fā)，但是如今在很多商場和酒店，可以看到女性不再帶頭巾。可能在沙特婦女權利最明顯的標志就是不允許開車。我所見過的所有女性都告訴我，西方世界對于這個問題的關注，讓她們很困擾，因為她們覺得西方世界忽視了積極的一面。但是支持者認為允許女性開車是為女性敞開機會大門的巨大飛躍。