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Trigger Warning: This article contains information and details about sexual assault and/or violence, which may be upsetting to survivors.
▲ Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at a news conference in Wilmington, Del., last month. He has yet to discuss the sexual assault allegation against him or be asked about it in an interview. For more than three weeks, progressive activists and women’s rights advocates debated how to handle an allegation of sexual assault against Joseph R. Biden Jr. The conversations weren’t easy, nor were the politics: Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, faced one allegation; his opponent, President Trump, at least a dozen. 在三个多星期的时间里，进步人士和女权运动者对约瑟夫·R·拜登的性侵犯指控进行了一番争论。这过程一点也不容易，对于政客也是如此。拜登，这个民主党的候选人，面临一项性侵的指控；而这样的指控对于他的对手特朗普来说似乎只是九牛一毛。 Finally, several of the women’s groups prepared a public letter that praised Mr. Biden’s work as an “outspoken champion for survivors of sexual violence” but also pushed him to address the allegation from Tara Reade, a former aide who worked in Mr. Biden’s Senate office in the early 1990s. 最终，一些妇女团体在公开信中称赞拜登是“性侵幸存者们直言不讳的捍卫者”，但也敦促他尽快回应来自塔拉·里德的性侵指控。塔拉·里德曾经在上世纪90年代初期担任拜登在参议院的助手。 “Vice President Biden has the opportunity, right now, to model how to take serious allegations seriously,” the draft letter said. “The weight of our expectations matches the magnitude of the office he seeks.” “拜登现在有机会演练一下如何慎重处理严厉的指控。” 这封信中说，“我们对他的期望和与他心仪的那个职位是一致的。” Then Mr. Biden’s team heard about the advocates’ effort. According to people involved in the discussions, the group put the letter on hold as it began pressuring Biden advisers to push the candidate to make a statement himself before the end of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Along with liberal organizers, they urged him to acknowledge the importance of survivors and the need for systemic change around issues of sexism and assault. 拜登的团队很快就看到了女权运动者们的具体行动。相关人士称，该组织以这封信为筹码开始向拜登的顾问施压，要求其在4月底（性侵犯关注月）之前亲自作出回应。他们与自由党人一道，要求他对性侵受害者加以重视，并就性别歧视和性侵问题进行做出系统性的变革。 Nearly two weeks later, Mr. Biden and his campaign have yet to make that statement, and the advocates have not released their letter. The Biden campaign has said little publicly beyond saying that women deserve to be heard and insisting that the allegation is not true; privately, Biden advisers have circulated talking points urging supporters to deny that the incident occurred. 近两个星期后，拜登先生及其竞选团队都尚未作出回应，而女权运动者们也未公开信的内容。除了支持女性的声音并坚称指控不成立之外，拜登的竞选团队几乎没有就此事公开发表任何言论。拜登的团队也在私下里散布消息，让他们的支持者不要相信这个指控。 As two more women have come forward to corroborate part of Ms. Reade’s allegation, the Biden campaign is facing attacks from the right and increasing pressure from the left to address the issue. And liberal activists find themselves in a tense standoff with a candidate they want to support but who they say has made little attempt to show leadership on an issue that resonates deeply with their party’s base. 然而随着另外两名妇女站出来为雷德的指控作证，拜登的总统竞选遭到了来自右翼的攻击，左翼方面也对他加紧施压，要求他尽快做出回应。自由派激进主义者们正与他们心仪的候选人处于一种紧张的对峙状态，他们认为拜登在有关政党根基的问题上没有发挥足够的领导作用。 “It’s difficult for survivors to see that a woman who has more corroborating sources than most survivors have in similar situations is being tossed aside and actively being weaponized by cynical political actors,” said Shaunna Thomas, a founder of UltraViolet, a women’s rights advocacy group that is involved in the effort to push the campaign. “It would be an incredible moment of leadership for Joe Biden to show up.” “对于受害者来说，他们几乎很少看到一个比他们拥有更多铁证的妇女被抛在一边置之不理，并被一些政客当作政治武器。”女权组织UltraViolet的创始人肖恩纳·托马斯说，“这是拜登展现自己领导力的关键时刻。” Since Ms. Reade spoke out in March with her allegation — that Mr. Biden penetrated her with his fingers in a Senate building in 1993 — his aides and advisers have denied it, saying it is “untrue.” They have remained unconcerned about any significant political blowback from Ms. Reade’s accusation, according to people who have spoken with the campaign, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. 自从雷迪女士在三月份提出指控称拜登（penetrated her with his fingers in a Senate building in 1993），拜登的团队就否认了这一说法，并声称这是假的。与竞选活动有关的一位匿名人士称，拜登方面对于雷德的指控以及其引起的政治反响丝毫不担心。
▲Tara Reade worked for Mr. Biden as an aide in his Senate office in the early 1990s. She came forward with her new allegation in March. Top Biden aides are telling allies that they do not see the allegation resonating with voters in a measurable way, these people say. They’re confident that the allegation will not shake voters’ perceptions of Mr. Biden’s character as a devoted father and husband, with family ties forged through deep tragedies. They also believe that voters will view the allegation with great skepticism. 拜登身边的高级助手四处宣称，这一指控不会在选民中引起大的反响。他们坚信，这一指控不会动摇拜登在选民心中历经悲剧的忠实的父亲和丈夫的形象。他们还认为，选民们面对这一指控还是会持一种怀疑的态度的。 A Biden campaign spokesman declined to comment for this article on Wednesday. A Biden adviser said that the campaign was talking to activists and that Mr. Biden considered their views important. 周三，拜登竞选团队的发言人拒绝就此发表评论。拜登的一位顾问说，竞选团正在与女权主义者进行协商，并表示拜登总统非常重视他们的意见。 Mr. Biden has yet to be asked about the allegation in an interview. In a joint appearance with Hillary Clinton that was livestreamed on his website on Tuesday, he discussed domestic violence, economic challenges facing women and the stresses of the coronavirus pandemic. No mention was made of Ms. Reade or her specific allegation. 拜登还尚未在采访中就这一指控接受提问。上周二，他与希拉里·克林顿在其网站上进行了一次联合直播，讨论了家庭暴力，妇女面临的经济挑战以及冠状病毒带来的压力。但拜登丝毫没有提及雷德和她的指控。 “Violence against women is a huge problem, and especially right now,” he said. Ending violence against women has “been one of the leading causes of my life,” he added. “对妇女的暴力行为是一个严重的问题，尤其是现在。”他补充说，消除对妇女的暴力行为已成为“我一生为之奋斗的事业”之一。 His campaign on Tuesday also released plans to support women during the coronavirus crisis that included proposals to help victims of domestic violence. 他的竞选团还在周二还提出了一些计划来帮助身处疫情危机中的女性，其中就包括帮助家庭暴力受害者。 In recent months, Mr. Biden has taken steps that appear to show he understands how a commitment to representation and equity might resonate with women, who make up the majority of voters for Democratic candidates. He has pledged to pick a woman as a running mate and nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court. 拜登最近几个月采取了一些措施。女性在民主党候选人中占多数席位，他也似乎深谙有关代表权和平等权的承诺会在女性中引起怎样的反响。他承诺挑选一名妇女作为竞选伙伴，并提名一名黑人女性进入最高法院。 Yet as he seeks to unite the Democratic Party after the primaries and pivot to a general election against Mr. Trump, Ms. Reade’s allegation remains a subject of intense discussion in the political world. 尽管拜登在初选之后设法团结民主党并把重心转到大选击败特朗普时，雷德的指控依旧成为了政界中激烈讨论的话题。 Republicans and the Trump campaign are already using the accusation to undercut Mr. Biden and the Democratic Party as hypocritical on issues of gender equity. Some in the party’s liberal wing have seized on Ms. Reade’s account, saying she should be heard and using her allegation to argue that Mr. Biden is not the party’s strongest possible nominee — a tactic that Biden backers fear could hamper their ability to build Democratic enthusiasm around his bid. 共和党人和特朗普竞选团开始利用性侵指控削弱拜登和他所在的民主党，揭露他们在性别平等问题上的虚伪。民主党内的一些自由派也在利用雷德的控告做文章，坚称她应该获得足够的关注，拜登也不是民主党的最佳候选人。而这正是拜登的拥护者所担心的，这会影响他们建立“民主党狂热”，也会阻碍拜登的竞选。 “It can’t appear that she is being ignored,” said Nina Turner, a former national campaign co-chair for Senator Bernie Sanders, Mr. Biden’s last rival for the nomination. “If we want to keep our credibility as a party, then we will have to agree that this allegation and any allegation should be vetted in the public.” “她不应该被忽视。”拜登的最后一位竞选对手伯尼·桑德斯手下的前全国竞选联席主席——尼娜·特纳这样说， “如果我们想保持作为一个政党的信誉，那么我们就必须让这个指控甚至任何指控由公众进行审查。” Apart from the discussions with the campaign, some progressive activists have been debating how to respond to the allegation, a conversation that has intensified in recent days. 除了与竞选团进行协商外，一些进步主义者也一直在讨论如何应对这个指控，有关于这个的争论近几天愈演愈烈。 “Joe Biden himself needs to respond directly,” said Yvette Simpson, the chief executive of Democracy for America, a progressive advocacy organization, which plans to back the Democratic nominee. “While it is absolutely essential that we defeat Donald Trump in November, trying to manage the response through women surrogates and emailed talking points doesn’t cut it in 2020 — especially if Democrats want to continue to be the party that values, supports, elevates, hears and believes women.” “乔·拜登本人需要直接做出回应，”支持民主党候选人的激进组织Democracy for America首席执行官伊维特·辛普森说，“我们必须在11月击败唐纳德·特朗普，这很重要；但通过女性代理人和宣扬谈话要点来回应并不能使事件就此平息下来，尤其是当民主党人希望继续成为拥有一个重视女性、支持女性、倾听女性、并相信女性的政党。” There has been no public polling on how voters are viewing the specific allegation, though surveys show that among voters who dislike both candidates, significantly more prefer Mr. Biden. 尽管调查显示在对两位候选人都不看好的选民中，大家明显更偏爱拜登，但选民对这个指控的看法尚未进行公开评测。 Tresa Undem, a pollster who specializes in surveys on gender issues, said that so far the allegation hasn’t dampened support for Mr. Biden among Democrats. But that could change quickly, she said, depending on how Mr. Biden and his campaign handle the evolving situation. 专门从事性别问题调查的民意调查员Tresa Undem说，到目前为止，这一指控并未削弱民主党人对拜登的支持。她说，但情况瞬息万变，这具体取决于拜登及其竞选团如何应对不断变化的局势。 “If the election was held today, I don’t think he’d lose any support,” she said. “But this is a huge deal that’s not going away. The story is going to be on the hypocrisy, and that is the No. 1 thing voters loathe.” 她说：“如果今天举行选举，我认为他不会失去任何支持。但此事非同小可。如果这个故事证明他是一个伪君子，那么选民就会开始厌恶了。” Among Republicans, the years of allegations against Mr. Trump have inflicted little damage with his base. He has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by more than a dozen women, who have described behavior that went far beyond the allegation against Mr. Biden. He has repeatedly denigrated women over their appearance and intellect. The “Access Hollywood’’ tape, in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals, was released just weeks before his victory in the 2016 election. 在共和党人中，多年来针对特朗普先生的指控对其政治根基没有造成太大损害。十多名妇女曾指控他性骚扰和行为不端，而她们描述的行为远远比对拜登的指控严重。他曾一再贬低妇女的容貌和才智。他曾在“ Access Hollywood”录像带扬言要抓住“women’s genitals”，这个视频就在他2016年大选获胜前几周公开了。 In recent years, Democrats have sought to confront current and past misconduct in their own ranks and spoken bluntly about racial and gender inequalities. 近年来，民主党人一直面临着现如今和过去在自己队伍中发生的不端行为，并直言不讳地谈论种族和性别不平等现象。
▲Polling over the past four years shows that the #MeToo movement has reshaped how Democratic voters think about sexual misconduct, gender inequality and representation in government. Last year, Ms. Reade was one of eight women who came forward to say Mr. Biden had kissed, hugged or touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable, but she did not raise the assault allegation then. 去年，雷德女士是八位声称拜登强行亲吻，拥抱，抚摸她们的女性之一，但当时她没有提出性侵指控。 In an interview on Tuesday, Ms. Reade described herself as disappointed with the response from the Biden campaign, saying it had not contacted her. Ms. Reade backed Mr. Sanders in the primary race and does not plan to vote in the general election. She told The Times that politics were not the reason she came forward with her allegation, saying she did not want to be used by the Trump campaign. 在星期二的一次采访中，雷德称自己对拜登竞选团队的回应感到失望，并表示他们没有与她进行联系。雷德在初选中支持桑德斯先生，不打算在大选中投票。她告诉《纽约时报》，政治不是她提出指控的原因，并表示她不想被特朗普的竞选团队所利用。 “Sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace is a huge gender, institutionalized problem in our country, and the fact that they are not addressing my allegations head-on and dealing with the corroborating evidence is simply a testimony to the hypocrisy,” she said. “There is no partisanship with sexual assault and harassment. It is an equal opportunity offender.” “工作场所的性侵犯和性骚扰在我们国家是一个严重的性别和制度问题。他们没有直面解决我的指控，没有对我提出的确凿证据进行回应，这正证明了他们的虚伪。”她说，“与性侵犯和性骚扰不存在党派之争。他们都是犯罪。” Last week, The Intercept published a transcript of a call that aired on a Larry King program between a woman living in California and Mr. King. The woman was seeking advice about what her daughter could do about “problems” she had while working for a “prominent senator” but did not specifically mention sexual assault or harassment. Ms. Reade has previously said her mother, who has since died, called into the program after she told her about her experience. 上周，The Intercept刊登了一个电话文本，该电话是加利福尼亚州一名妇女与Mr. King两人的对话并在Larry King program中播出的。这名妇女的女儿在为“某著名参议员”工作时遇到一些“问题”，但并未具体提及性侵犯或性骚扰，因此这名妇女想要一些建议和帮助。雷德说，自那以后就去世的母亲向她坦言自己曾经拨打过那个节目的电话。 Two women also came forward in an article this week in Business Insider to corroborate parts of Ms. Reade’s account. 本周，《商业内幕》也刊登了两位挺身而出的女性的文章，并证实了雷德部分言论。 One of the women, Lynda LaCasse, a former neighbor of Ms. Reade’s, said in an interview with The Times on Tuesday that Ms. Reade told her around 1995 about her encounter with Mr. Biden. Ms. LaCasse said she and Ms. Reade had been discussing their experiences with abuse and violence when Ms. Reade mentioned Mr. Biden. 雷德的前邻居琳达·拉卡斯就是其中一位女士。她在周二接受《泰晤士报》采访时说，雷德在1995年的时候告诉了她在拜登那儿的遭遇。拉卡斯说，当雷德提到拜登时，他们就会讨论拜登对他们的虐待和暴力。 Ms. LaCasse, who is now 60 and lives in Oregon, said she was a Democrat and supported Mr. Biden. But she said she wanted to come forward because “that doesn’t take away from what happened.” 拉卡斯现年60岁，现居俄勒冈州。她说她是民主党人，并支持拜登。但是她说她想挺身而出，因为“那些发生的一切都还没有远去”。 The second woman, Lorraine Sanchez, a former colleague of Ms. Reade’s in the mid-1990s, said she recalled Ms. Reade describing an incident of harassment by her former boss. She provided a statement outlining her account to The Times. 第二位女士是洛雷德·桑切斯，她是雷德以前的同事，她说她想起雷德曾向她描述过前任上司对她的性骚扰。她向纽约时报提供了一份声明，简要概括了自己的证词。 Former Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who has endorsed Mr. Biden, said in an interview that she thought the campaign had handled Ms. Reade’s allegation “well” and that it had “done everything that they can do.” She said the Biden campaign had not given her talking points. 一直支持拜登的加利福尼亚前参议员Barbara Boxer在一次采访中说，她认为拜登的团队“很好”地解决了雷德女士的指控，并且“已尽其所能”。她声称，拜登的团队并没有让她这么说。 “If they ask me my advice," she said, “it would be keep on doing what they’re doing.” 她说：“如果他们向我寻求建议，我会说继续做他们正在做的事情吧。” “这是【外刊阅读者】发出的第4篇文章” |
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