UK among most liberal countries on divorce and abortion, survey reveals
-Global study shows significant shift in UK attitudes on matters such as casual sex and assisted dying

调查显示，英国是在离婚和堕胎问题上最自由的国家之一
——全球研究显示，英国人对随意性行为和安乐死等问题的态度发生了重大转变


(In the UK, 65% of respondents said they found homosexuality acceptable.)

（在英国，65%的受访者表示他们认为同性恋是可以接受的。）
新闻：

The UK has overtaken Canada, Germany and Australia to become one of the world’s most socially liberal nations towards divorce and abortion, the latest wave of a global study has revealed.

最新一项全球研究显示，英国已经超过加拿大、德国和澳大利亚，成为世界上对离婚和堕胎最宽容的国家之一。

Significant increases in the last five years in people saying the practices are justifiable is mirrored by sharply increasing acceptance of homosexuality, casual sex and prostitution over the same period, the World Values Survey found.

世界价值观调查发现，在过去五年中，认为这些行为是合理的人数显著增加，与此同时，人们对同性恋、随意性行为和卖淫的接受程度也大幅上升。

The latest wave of the survey, analysed by the Policy Institute at King’s College London, focuses on 24 countries across the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, accounting for about half of the world’s population.

伦敦国王学院政策研究所对最新一轮调查进行了分析，重点调查了美洲、亚洲、非洲、欧洲和中东的24个国家，这些国家的人口约占世界人口的一半。

The UK now ranks in the top four countries for considering divorce, abortion, euthanasia, suicide and casual sex justifiable. Swedes are the most liberal on divorce and abortion, Germans on euthanasia and the French on suicide. While 48% of Australians think casual sex is justifiable, only 1% of Chinese people agree. Nigerians are the least accepting of homosexuality and divorce; Egyptians oppose abortion and suicide most; and only 1% of South Koreans think prostitution is justifiable, compared with more than a quarter of Australians.

在认为离婚、堕胎、安乐死、自杀和随意性行为合理的国家中，英国位列前四。瑞典人在离婚和堕胎问题上最宽容，德国人在安乐死问题上最宽容，法国人在自杀问题上最宽容。48%的澳大利亚人认为随意性行为是合理的，但只有1%的中国人同意这一观点。尼日利亚人最不接受同性恋和离婚；埃及人最反对堕胎和自杀；只有1%的韩国人认为卖淫是正当的，而澳大利亚的这一比例超过四分之一。

Academics said the findings exposed how much more liberal the UK has become over a relatively short period of time and showed how politicians may face public pressure in the near future to consider reform on sensitive topics such as assisted dying.

学者们表示，调查结果暴露出英国在相对较短的时间内变得更加自由，并显示出政客们在不久的将来可能会面临公众压力，要求他们考虑在安乐死等敏感话题上进行改革。

Since 2009, the proportion of people across all UK generations considering casual sex justifiable has at least doubled. While the youngest people are the most accepting of divorce, over half of the prewar generation agree, up from about 20% in 2009.

自2009年以来，英国各年龄段的人认为随意性行为合情合理的比例至少翻了一番。虽然最年轻的人最能接受离婚，但也有超过一半的二战前一代同意离婚，而2009年这一比例约为20%。

“What were once pressing moral concerns – things like homosexuality, divorce and casual sex – have become simple facts of life for much of the public,” said Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute. “This mostly isn’t just driven by younger generations replacing older generations. All generations have changed their views significantly.”

政策研究所所长鲍比·达菲教授说：“同性恋、离婚和随意性行为等曾经是紧迫的道德问题，对大多数公众来说已成为简单的生活事实。这主要不仅仅是因为年轻一代取代了老一辈。所有人的观点都发生了巨大的变化。”

The increasing acceptability of divorce does not appear to have increased its prence. In 2021, divorce rates in England and Wales hit their highest level since 2014, but remained lower than during the noughties, according to the Office for National Statistics.

人们对离婚的接受程度的提高似乎并没有增加离婚率。根据英国国家统计局的数据，2021年，英格兰和威尔士的离婚率达到了2014年以来的最高水平，但仍低于本世纪头十年的水平。

Abortion providers have reported being “busier than ever”, and NHS England has reported increased demand. The director of one major provider, Dr Jonathan Lord, of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, told the Guardian in January that the rise was being driven by “the economic downturn, the cost of living crisis and the ability to access good quality contraception” via GPs and sexual health services, which have been affected by the wider NHS crisis.

据报道，堕胎服务商“比以往任何时候都忙”，英国国家医疗服务体系也报告称，需求有所增加。英国MSI生殖选择公司的主管乔纳森·洛德博士1月份告诉《卫报》，这一增长是由“经济衰退、生活成本危机和通过全科医生和性健康服务获得高质量避孕的能力”所推动的，这些都受到了更广泛的国家医疗服务体系危机的影响。

Amid the banning of abortion in some US states, pro-choice campaigners have warned that people should not assume abortion rights will remain protected in the UK. Brook, a sexual health charity, has described it as “a precarious and stigmatised part of UK healthcare”.

在美国一些州禁止堕胎的情况下，支持堕胎的活动人士警告说，人们不应该认为英国的堕胎权会继续受到保护。性健康慈善机构Brook将其描述为“英国医疗保健中不稳定和耻辱的一部分”。

One issue on which the UK remains mid-table is the death penalty, with 55% of people considering it justifiable or potentially justifiable. The findings – which come after it emerged the Conservative party deputy chair, Lee Anderson, had recently advocated the return of capital punishment – show that people in Russia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Germany and among more than half of the countries surveyed were more opposed to the death penalty than those in Britain.

在英国仍然处于中间位置的一个问题是死刑，55%的人认为死刑是合理的或可能是合理的。调查结果显示，在俄罗斯、尼日利亚、印度尼西亚、德国和超过一半的被调查国家中，人们比英国人更反对死刑。此前，保守党副主席李·安德森最近主张恢复死刑。

Duffy said British enthusiasm for executions had softened over recent years, but the issue was bound up with political identities, “with Conservative voters much more supportive of capital punishment [67% said it was at least potentially justifiable] than Labour voters [47%], which helps explain why it continues to be brought up in political discussions”.

达菲说，近年来，英国人对死刑的热情有所减弱，但这个问题与政治身份有关，“保守党选民比工党选民（47%）更支持死刑（67%的人认为至少可能是合理的），这有助于解释为什么它继续在政治讨论中被提及。”

The number of people considering suicide justifiable also increased in the UK at the highest rate seen since the global study began in 1981. It appears to have been driven up in part by generation Z (born since 1996), a third of whom think suicide is justifiable – far higher than all other UK generations and double the number among baby boomers (born between 1945 and 1965).

自1981年全球研究开始以来，英国认为自杀是合理的人数也以最高的速度增长。这似乎部分是由Z世代（1996年以后出生）推动的，其中三分之一的人认为自杀是合理的，这一比例远远高于英国其他所有世代，是婴儿潮一代（1945年至1965年出生）的两倍。

All generations, including those born before the second world war, are becoming increasingly likely to consider suicide justifiable, although across the whole population most do not.

所有人，包括二战前出生的人，都越来越倾向于认为自杀是合理的，尽管在整个人口中，大多数人并不这么认为。

The suicide rate in England and Wales has been broadly steady since 2008 after falling over the previous 25 years. In 2021 there were 5,583 suicides registered, three-quarters of which were in men. Men aged 50 to 54 years had the highest age-specific suicide rate, at about double that of those in their 20s.

自2008年以来，英格兰和威尔士的自杀率基本稳定，此前25年一直在下降。2021年，登记在案的自杀人数为5583人，其中四分之三为男性。50至54岁的男性自杀率最高，约为20多岁男性的两倍。
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Duffy said generation Z’s acceptance of suicide “could simply be a sign of an increasingly tolerant society and a cohort of young that better understands and engages on mental health issues”. He added that while there had not been significant increases in suicide rates among the young, there had been an increase in suicide attempts and self-harming behaviours.

达菲说，Z世代对自杀的接受“可能只是一个越来越宽容的社会的标志，年轻人更好地理解和参与心理健康问题”。他补充说，虽然年轻人的自杀率没有显著增加，但自杀企图和自残行为却有所增加。

The growth in acceptance of euthanasia continues in the UK despite its continued criminalisation. Over the last 25 years, acceptance has risen above attitudes in Canada, where some medically assisted dying has been legal since 2016. In the UK, 47% of people now think it is justifiable, up from 20% in 1981. But acceptance remains lower than in Germany and Australia.

尽管安乐死仍被定为犯罪行为，但在英国，接受安乐死的人数仍在增长。在过去的25年里，加拿大人对安乐死的接受程度已经超过了人们的态度，自2016年以来，一些医疗协助下的死亡已经合法。在英国，现在有47%的人认为这是合理的，而1981年只有20%。但接受度仍低于德国和澳大利亚。

A private member’s bill to “allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults to have the option of accelerating their deaths with medical assistance” is at the reading stage in the House of Lords. The last time a similar bill was introduced in 2015, it was heavily defeated in the Commons.

一项私人议员的法案“允许患有绝症的、有精神能力的成年人选择在医疗帮助下加速他们的死亡”正在上议院的读审阶段。上一次类似的法案是在2015年提出的，但在下议院遭到惨烈反对。