Earlier today, Angelina
Jolie attended and co-chaired the Global
Summit to End Sexual Violence in
Conflict in London and delivered an affecting speech that will surely make
waves about the life-and-death issue.
"This whole
subject has been taboo for far too long," she said. "War zone rape is
a crime that thrives on silence and denial. The stigma harms survivors and it
causes feelings of shame and worthlessness.
It feeds ignorance, such as the
notion that rape has anything to do with normal sexual impulses. But most of
all, it allows the rapist to get away with it. They feel above the law because
the law rarely touches them and society tolerates them."
She continued: "It
is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict," she said. "There is nothing inevitable about it.
It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians. It is nothing to do with sex,
everything to do with power. It is done to torture and humiliate innocent
people and often very young children. I have met survivors from Afghanistan to
Somalia and they are just like us, with one crucial difference: we live in safe
countries with doctors we can go to when we are hurt, police we can turn to
when we are wronged, and institutions that protect us. They live in refugee
camps or bombed-out streets in areas where there is no law, no protection and
not even the hope of justice. They struggle to keep their children safe, and if
they admit to being raped, they are likely to face more violence and social
rejection."
The 4-minute long speech is just the latest reminder that
Jolie has one of, if not the most, admirable humanitarian agendas in all of
Hollywood. Watch the entire speech, below:
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