News Desk |
Angelina Jolie in her powerful speech has pressed peacekeeping negotiators to make extraordinary efforts to safeguard the safety of women in war zones, she said this while addressing the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference on Wednesday in Canada.
At #PeaceConf17 in #Vancouver, @Refugees Special Envoy Angelina Jolie delivered a powerful speech advocating for the right of women and girls to live a life free of sexual violence. pic.twitter.com/cMoDmBW2pm
— UN Peacekeeping (@UNPeacekeeping) November 16, 2017
Watch now: @Refugees Special Envoy Angelina Jolie is at #PeaceConf17 advocating for the right for women & girls to live a life free of violence. See: https://t.co/LwPgUHaCvl pic.twitter.com/3SkIL45xR1
— United Nations (@UN) November 15, 2017
#AngelinaJolie attends a peacekeeping summit in #Vancouver, #Canada on November 15, 2017. Angelina is the Special Envoy of #UNHCR and the co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (#PSVC) initiative. pic.twitter.com/M2gt5PhtU8
— Angelina Jolie ❤️ (@AngelinaJ_1975) November 15, 2017
“We have to ask how is it after all these years, all these laws, and all these resolutions and all the horrors endured, women still have to ask for this most basic of all entitlements: the right to a life free from violence.”
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The UN appointed Jolie a special envoy for the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012. The actress has long been an advocate for humanitarian causes, traveling all over the world and visiting different refugees camps to help displaced people.
Jolie, in her speech further pointed to how rampant the menace of sexual violence is.
“Sexual violence is everywhere,” she said. “In the industry where I work, in businesses, in universities, in policies, politicians, military across the world. It affects men as well as women.”
Jolie, also mentioned how sexual violence is used as a weapon to terrorize the community in war zones. She said rape and sexual assault has got more to do with power than with physical demands.
“This rape and assault are designed to torture, to terrorize and to force people to flee. It has nothing to do with sex. It has everything to do with abuse of power, it is criminal behavior.”
“Sexual violence is a weapon, used to deliberate effect to achieve military or political objectives. It is cheaper than a bullet. It has long-lasting consequences that unfold with sickening predictability. And that is what makes it so cruelly effective.”
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#AngelinaJolie attends a peacekeeping summit in #Vancouver, #Canada on November 15, 2017. Angelina is the Special Envoy of #UNHCR and the co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (#PSVC) initiative. pic.twitter.com/M2gt5PhtU8