在大多数国家，表明一个人的婚姻状况，通常分为“未婚”、“已婚”或“离异”。不过，在孟加拉国，穆斯林女性结婚领证、填写结婚登记表时，却没有“未婚”一说，取而代之的是“处女”选项。
原来，在孟加拉国目前所使用的婚姻登记表中，表明“未婚”的孟加拉语“kumari”一词，同时还有“处女”的含义。这被当地的女权组织认为是对女性的羞辱，以及对女性隐私的侵犯。
图 via BBC
于是当地时间周日，孟加拉国高等法院终于裁定，该国穆斯林女性申领结婚证所填写的结婚登记材料，弃用孟加拉语“kumari”一词，改用毫无歧义的“obibahita”一词。孟加拉国穆斯林女性无须在结婚时申明自己是个“处女”了。
The high court ordered that "virgin" be replaced with "unmarried". The other two options on the form - "widow" and "divorced" - remain unchanged.
高等法院命令用“未婚”代替“处女”。表格上的另外两个选项——“寡妇”和“离异”——保持不变。
Women's rights groups - who had argued the word "virgin" was humiliating - welcomed Sunday's verdict.
女权组织对周日的判决表示欢迎。此前，她们认为“处女”一词是一种羞辱。
On Sunday, the court said the Bengali word "obibahita", which unambiguously means "an unmarried woman" - must be used from now on instead of "kumari".
周日，法院表示从现在起，必须使用孟加拉语中毫无歧义的“obibahita”一词，而不是“kumari”，来表示“未婚女子”。
▲ Bangladesh: Court removes 'virgin' word from marriage form (via BBC)
图 via The Times of India
在穆斯林人口占了近90%的孟加拉国，婚姻法长久以来都为该国女权组织所诟病。该国的婚姻法被认为对女性有限制和歧视。许多女孩尚在年幼时就被迫接受包办婚姻。因此，法院的这项判决被认为是具有“里程碑”式的进步。
"It is a landmark verdict," Aynun Nahar Siddiqua, a lawyer involved in the case, was quoted as saying.
“这是一个里程碑式的判决，”参与此案的律师Aynun Nahar Siddiqua说。
She said she hoped the ruling would help advance women's rights in Bangladesh.
她说，她希望这项裁决将有助于增进孟加拉国妇女的权利。
Meanwhile, a local marriage registrar said he and his colleagues were now waiting for the authorities to officially inform them about the changes in the form.
与此同时，当地一名婚姻登记官表示，他和他的同事们正在等待当局正式通知他们表格上的变化。
"I have conducted many marriages in Dhaka and I have often been asked why men have the liberty to not disclose their status but women don't. I always told them this wasn't in my hands," registrar Mohammad Ali Akbar Sarker told Reuters.
“我在达卡主持过很多婚礼，经常有人问我，为什么男人有不公开婚姻状况的自由，而女人没有。登记官Mohammad Ali Akbar Sarker告诉路透社。
"I guess I won't be asked that question anymore," he added.
“我想我不会再被问到这个问题了，”他补充道。
▲ Bangladesh: Court removes 'virgin' word from marriage form (via BBC)
在另一项裁决中，法院要求新郎现在也必须陈述他们是未婚、离异还是丧偶。
你觉得法院的这项裁决怎么样？欢迎留言并分享观点！文：Du Qiongfang
资料：BBC, AFP
图/ 题图：BBC, The Times of India
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