印度旅游部长马赫什•沙玛(图片来源：路透社)

India's tourism minister is furiously backpedaling after suggesting that women who visit India shouldn't wear skirts for their own safety.

印度旅游部长日前建议前往印度的女性为了自身安全不要穿裙子，但是他随后连忙澄清。

Mahesh Sharma made the comments over the weekend while promoting a welcome kit that will be handed out to tourists when they arrive in India.

上周末，马赫什•沙玛在宣传入境游客将会拿到的欢迎礼包时做出“不要穿裙子”的评论。

"There's a card in there listing the do's and don'ts. Basic things like, 'Don't go out at night alone.' 'Don't wear skirts.'"

“欢迎礼包里有一张卡片，上面列了注意事项。基本的提醒有：‘晚上不要单独外出’、‘不要穿裙子’。”

The outrage was immediate. And for good reason.

这立刻引起了印度人民的愤怒，而且合情合理。

A string of sexual assaults against foreign women has sullied India's reputation.

印度的声誉因为一系列外国女性被性侵的案件而受损。

The country has amended its laws to broaden the definition of rape to include any form of penetration; it lists out strict punishments not only for rape but also for sexual assault, voyeurism and stalking.

印度修订了法律，扩大了强奸的定义，把任何形式的性交都列为强奸。修正后的法律也列出了对于强奸、性侵、窥阴癖和跟踪罪的严惩方式。

But still, every high-profile case -- and there have been several -- brings the question to the forefront again: Is India doing enough to protect women? Is it creating a strong enough deterrent for crimes against women?

但是多起引人瞩目的案件仍然带来质疑：保护女性，印度做到位了么?有没有强有力的措施遏制所有针对女性的犯罪?

Backlash

民众反应强烈

For one thing, India is ill-equipped to process not just sexual assaults and rape, but all kinds of crime. It has a shortage of forensic laboratories; one of the worst police-to-citizens ratios in the world, and far fewer lawyers and judges than it needs to process cases.

首先，印度不仅仅在处理性侵和强奸案件上能力欠缺，在各类案件处理上都能力不足。该国缺少法医检验室;警察和公民人数比是世界上最低的几个国家之一;处理案件所需的律师和法官人数也远远不够。

Critics lambasted the minister, saying his comments put the onus on women, rather than on a government that ought to do a better job of improving security.

批评人士痛斥旅游部长，认为他将安全责任推到了女性身上，而不是政府。政府应该为提高安全性做出更多的努力。

"Sir please give us bad women a lecture on Indian Culture. We are getting outta control N need to be harnessed!" said Sapna Moto Bhavnani, in one of many similar tweets taking the minister to task.

推特上有许多人批评这位部长。萨普纳•莫托•巴夫南尼写道：“先生，请给我们这些‘坏女人’上一节印度文化课。我们已经失去控制了，现在需要你来治理一下。”

Backpedal

澄清

On Monday, Sharma tried to clarify what he meant.

周一，沙玛试图澄清他的意思。

"I am a father of two daughters...I would never tell women what they should wear or not," he told reporters.

他对记者说：“我是两个女孩的父亲。我永远不会告诉女性她们应该或不应该穿什么。”

"Such a ban is unimaginable, but it is not a crime to be cautious. Different countries issue advisories from time to time, but I never said change anyone's way of dressing."

“这样的禁令是难以想象的，但谨慎一点总没有错。各国时不时都会发布安全建议，但我从未说过要改变任何人穿衣的方式。”

This isn't the first time, however, that Sharma has stoked controversy with his comments on how to ensure the safety of women.

不过，这已经不是沙玛第一次因为就如何确保女性安全发表意见而引发争论了。

Last year he said Indian women shouldn't go out at night.

去年他说印度女人晚上不应该出门。

"Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere but it is not part of Indian culture," he said.

他说：“其他国家女孩晚上想要出去是可以的，但是在印度，这是不行的。”

By the way, the pamphlet that Sharma referred to makes no mention of skirts.

顺便说一句，沙玛提到的安全手册上并没有提到裙子。