Children as young as 12 are being forced into selling sex on New Zealand streets.

Auckland University social researcher Natalie Thorborn has released the disturbing findings into the plight of underage sex workers saying it is much more common than people think.

年龄低至12岁的儿童被迫在新西兰从事性工作——这是奥克兰大学社会研究人员Natalie Thorborn发布的一项调查结果。调查结果显示，未成年性工作者的困境，比人们想象得要普遍得多。

Disturbing：引起烦恼的；令人不安的；引起恐慌的

Plight：困境；苦难；苦境

Girls just 12 years old were often groomed by boyfriends who eventually forced them into a situation where they had no option but to sell their bodies. In some instances even parents were selling their own children for sex.

有的女孩仅12岁，被男朋友欺骗，最终只能出卖自己身体。在某些情况下，甚至连父母都在出卖自己的孩子来进行性行为。

Option：选项；选择；选择权；可选择的事物

In some instances：在某些情况下

Force：促使，推动；强迫；强加

A 9-year-old girl was tied to her bed by her mother and forced to have sex with men.

在一个个案中，一名9岁的女孩被母亲绑在床上，被迫与男子发生性关系。

At least one case is before the courts where a person is facing charges assisting a young person into prostitution and profiting from it.

至少有一个案件已由法院受理，一人被指控协助年轻人从事性交易活动，并从中获利。

Prostitution：卖淫；滥用

Charge：收费；主管；指控；掌管

Thorborn said it was often normalised within the communities the victims belonged to.

Thorborn说，在受害者的社区中，这是很常见的现象。

Normalised：正规化的；标准化的；规范化的；标称的

Victim：受害者；牺牲品

She said it was a confronting situation that no young person deserved.

"It's definitely a problem," she told NewstalkZB's Larry Williams.

"Any situation where young people are being raped repeatedly by a number of men so that one person can make a profit from it is a problem."

她说，一个年轻人不应该处于这样的境地。“这绝对是个问题。一个年轻人被男性强奸，其他人却从中获利，这个问题是很可怕的。”

Deserve：值得；应得；应受

Rape：强奸，强暴

Make a profit：获利；赚钱；赚取利润

But she said it was impossible to gauge the extent of the problem because it was secretive and hidden.

但Thorborn表示，无法评估这一问题的严重程度，因为很多都是隐秘的行为。

Gauge：估计；判定；估算

Secretive：秘密的；偷偷摸摸的

She said the youngsters told her about a number of situations where they were being forced to submit to clients raping them.

"Often the perpetrators are posing as their boyfriends and insisting that they do things that they don't want to do and using violence and coercion when they don't."

有受害者向她透露，“通常犯罪者会假扮成受害者的男友，并坚称说他们也无可奈何，逼迫’女朋友’从事性工作；如果她们不从的话，这些所谓的’男朋友’就会使用暴力胁迫。”

Perpetrators：作恶者；行凶者；犯罪者

Violence：暴力

Coercion：胁迫；强迫

Thorborn said when anyone under 18 was forced to provide sexual services against their will it constituted trafficking.

Thorborn指出，任何强迫18岁以下未成年人提供性服务的行为，就构成非法交易。

Will：意志；毅力；自制力；意愿

Constitute：构成；组成；（被认为或看作）是

Trafficking：非法交易；贩卖

记得复习：

【读新闻学英语】“想租房，得陪睡！” 竟然有网友为这名房东点赞

【读新闻学英语】这边新西兰总理忙着大选，那边澳洲总理发了一张照片被怒怼…做名人真不容易啊

【读新闻学英语】为了和前男友和好 她冒充警察控制了他2年多！

来源 - 新西兰先驱报中文网