Britain’s Home Secretary James Cleverly has apologized for joking about spiking his wife’s drink with a date-rape drug. According to a report in British tabloid the Sunday Mirror, Cleverly made the joke to female guests while attending a Downing Street reception earlier this month. According to the paper, Cleverly — a senior minister in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government — said that adding “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit.” He reportedly added that the secret to a long marriage was to ensure your spouse was “someone who is always mildly sedated so she can never realize there are better men out there.” His comments came on the same day that Cleverly vowed to strengthen British laws on the growing epidemic of drink spiking in the U.K., according to the Mirror. A spokesman for Cleverly said, “In what was always understood as a private conversation, James, the Home Secretary tackling spiking, made what was clearly meant to be an ironic joke — for which he apologizes.” The comments have stirred controversy among women’s rights groups and prompted calls for his resignation. Opposition Labour politician and Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote on X: “Spiking is a serious and devastating crime. “Truly unbelievable that the Home Secretary in charge of tackling violence against women and girls could think it OK to make jokes like this. How can victims trust him to take this vile crime seriously?” The Fawcett Society, a women’s advocacy group, described the comments as “sickening.” “No wonder women don’t feel safe. We know that ‘banter’ is the excuse under which misogyny is allowed to thrive. How can we trust him to seriously address violence against women and girls? We deserve better than this from our lawmakers and Cleverly should resign,” Fawcett Society chief executive Jemima Olchawski said. Women’s Aid, an organization which aims to tackle domestic violence in the U.K., said: “We rely on political leaders to take action to end violence against women and girls, and the misogyny that underpins it. “It is vital that spiking survivors see ministers treating the subject seriously and not downplaying the reality so many women face.” Britain has been facing a rising epidemic of spiking incidents. Between May 2022 and April 2023, there were 6,732 reports of spiking in England and Wales.(SD-Agencies) Words to Learn 相關詞匯 【下藥】xiàyào spiking the act of adding a drug to someone's drink to make them unconscious, extremely tired, or unable to function normally 【嘲諷的】cháofěng de ironic using words that suggest the opposite of what you intend, usually in order to be humorous 英國內政大臣詹姆斯?克萊弗利開玩笑說自己在妻子喝的酒里加了約會強奸藥，然后被迫道歉。 英國小報《星期日鏡報》報道稱，克萊弗利本月早些時候出席唐寧街招待會時對女賓開了這個玩笑。 克萊弗利在首相里希?蘇納克的保守黨內閣擔任高官。《鏡報》援引克萊弗利的話說，“每晚在她的酒里加一點氟硝西泮，如果只是一點點，其實并不違法。” 他還補充說，長久婚姻的秘訣是確保配偶“總有點迷迷瞪瞪，這樣她就永遠不知道外面有更好的男人”。 據《鏡報》報道，就在他發表這番言論的同一天，克萊弗利還發誓要要收緊英國法律，打擊英國日益猖獗的飲料下藥現象。 克萊弗利的發言人說：“作為內政大臣，監管飲料下藥的確是他職責所在，但詹姆斯一直認為發表這番言論的場合屬于私人談話，他開了一個明顯帶有諷刺意味的玩笑，現在他為此道歉。” 這番言論在女權組織中引起了爭議，并引發了要求他辭職的呼聲。 反對黨工黨政治家、影子內閣內政大臣伊維特?庫珀在社交媒體X上寫道： “給飲料下藥是一種帶來嚴重后果的罪行。負責處理暴力侵害婦女和女童問題的內政大臣竟然認為可以開這樣的玩笑，簡直難以置信。受害者怎么能相信他會認真對待這種卑鄙的罪行呢？” 婦女權益組織福塞特協會說這種言論“令人作嘔”。 福塞特協會首席執行官杰邁瑪?奧爾恰夫斯基說：“難怪女性沒有安全感。我們知道，‘開玩笑’是放任厭女癥的借口。怎么能相信他會認真解決針對婦女和女孩的暴力問題？我們的議員要以身作則。克萊弗利應該辭職。” 旨在解決英國家庭暴力問題的組織 “ 婦女援助”說：“我們指望政治領導人采取行動，制止針對婦女和女孩的暴力，以及這種現象背后的厭女癥。曾被下藥的她們希望看到部長們認真對待這個問題，而不是輕描淡寫很多婦女面臨的現實困擾，這一點很重要。” 英國一直面臨在飲料里下藥的問題。據報道，2022年5月至2023年4月期間，英格蘭和威爾士共報告了6732起飲料下藥事件。 (Translated by Debra) | 