A friend recently got in touch with me for travel advice on India. She is thinking of spending a few weeks here in the summer and wanted tips on must-sees and must-avoids. She also wanted to know if India is safe for women.
一个朋友前不久跟我联系，询问去印度旅行需要注意的地方。她想夏天的时候来这里玩儿几个星期，希望了解一些必游景点和务必小心的地方。此外，她还想知道女性在印度是否安全。
'I will have friends with me for some of the trip, but might be alone for bits too is this safe? The news has not been very confidence-inspiring lately,' she said.
她说：有些地方我会和朋友结伴同行，但也可能独自一人去一些地方，这样安全吗?最近的一些新闻报道让我的信心倍受打击。
My friend was referring to the December gang rape and death of a young Indian woman in Delhi, an incident that drew global attention to women's safety in the country.
我的这位朋友指的是去年12月发生在新德里的轮奸案，受害的年轻印度女子不幸去世。此事引发全球关注女性在印度国内的安全问题。
There was more horrific news over the weekend. A Swiss woman told police she was gang-raped while camping with her husband near Orchha, a Mughal-era citadel that only now is starting to appear on the tourist circuit. Four men confessed to raping the woman, and were arrested on Sunday, say police.
上周末的新闻更恐怖。一名瑞士女子对警方说，她和丈夫在奥尔恰(Orchha)附近露营时，自己被轮奸。奥尔恰曾是莫卧儿(Mughal)王朝的城堡，最近刚刚成为游客观光地。警方说，四名男子已供认强奸了那名瑞士女子，并已于周日被捕。
Foreigners have been sexually assaulted in India before. A British teenager was raped and murdered in Goa in 2008, a high-profile case that was closely tracked in the United Kingdom. And in 2006, a man was convicted of raping a German tourist in a hotel room in Rajasthan. He fled on parole at the time. Police in Kerala on Friday said they found a man who matches his description and are holding him in custody, according to the Press Trust of India.
外籍人士以前在印度也遭遇过性侵。2008年，英国一名少女在印度果阿邦(Goa)被奸杀。这个案件广为人知，并且曾在英国国内受到密切关注。2006年，一名男子因在拉贾斯坦邦(Rajasthan)某酒店房间内强奸了一名德国游客而被定罪。后来他在获假释期间潜逃。印度报业托拉斯(Press Trust of India)报道称，喀拉拉邦(Kerala)警方上周五说，找到了一名与该男子特征描述相符的人，目前他被关押。
While tragic, these incidents are rare in India. Around 6.3 million foreign tourists visited India in 2011, the latest year for which government data is available. A large share of visitors are women, and many of them travel alone.
这些事虽令人感到悲伤，但其实在印度国内是很罕见的。2011年，访问印度的外籍游客约有630万人次，这是有政府统计数据可查的最近一年。其中女性游客占很大比例，而且很多女性都是独自旅行。
Control Risks, a global risk consultancy firm, in a travel briefing issued in response to the alleged rape of the Swiss woman, said that 'although the incident is serious, violent crime against foreigners remains relatively rare in India.'
从事风险咨询的国际机构Control Risks就瑞士女子据报被强奸一事发布了一份旅行简报，说虽然此事性质恶劣，但针对外国人的暴力犯罪在印度仍相对罕见。
'India remains generally safe for female travelers and most women will experience, at worst, unwelcome attention from men,' it added, while cautioning tourists against traveling alone or in small groups.
Control Risks还说，整体而言，印度对女性游客来说仍算安全，大多数女性遇到的最坏情况也就是被男性冷淡待之。但同时，该机构也提醒游客不要单独或一小群人结伴旅行。
High-profile rape cases have made foreign travelers more aware of women's safety in the country.
那些备受关注的强奸案让外国游客更关注女性在印度国内的安全状况。
