Angelina Jolie-Pitt attended a House of Lords committee on Tuesday (8th September) and warned of Islamic State’s use of sexual violence as a weapon.
Angelina Jolie-Pitt, in her role as a UN Special Envoy, attended a House of Lords committee on sexual violence in war on Tuesday (8th September). Acting as a key witness, the 40-year-old Unbroken director warned rape is being used – as it has been used for centuries – in conflicts around the world as a weapon. She further stated Islamic State, which she described as “the most aggressive terrorist group in the world today”, was actively encouraging the use of sexual violence against women and girls in Syria and Iraq.
Angelina Jolie at the 20th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards in L.A., January 2015.
Read More: Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt House Hunting In London.
“The most important thing is to understand what it’s not: it’s not sexual, it’s a violent, brutal, terrorising weapon and it is used unfortunately, everywhere,” Jolie-Pitt told the committee (via The Guardian).
“The most aggressive terrorist group in the world today knows what we know; knows that it is a very effective weapon and [is] using it as a centrepoint of their terror and their way of destroying communities and families and attacking, destroying and dehumanising.”
Jolie-Pitt gave moving examples and detailed conversations she had with some of the survivors of sexual violence, including a recent conversation with a 13-year-old Iraqi girl who had been repeatedly raped.
“They told me that what was even worse than the physical violence was that they then had to stand in rooms and watch their friends be sold and to hear about what they were worth,” Jolie-Pitt added. “Were they worth $40? $50? What was their value? It made her question what she was worth.”
Although she used the atrocities committed by IS as examples, Jolie-Pitt warned of the need to tackle this global problem. She also acknowledged her limitations as “as artist”. She explained that, although she could be influential in advocating change, it was policy which was key to ending sexual violence.
“For all of that goodwill, it’s wonderful, but laws need to change; policies need to change; governments and leaderships need to come together and that will make the real change,” Jolie-Pitt said.
Jolie-Pitt has long been an advocate of ending sexual violence. Last year she chaired, alongside William Hague, The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.
It’s impossible to ascertain the number of people – primarily women and girls - who have been affected by sexual violence in conflicts worldwide. However, statistics from conflicts during the 1990s are disturbing. According to the UN, in the three months of the Rwanda Genocide in 1994, between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped whilst in the former Yugoslavia more than 60,000 women were raped during the conflict between 1992 and 1995.
If you want to read more about the UN’s work to end sexual violence in conflict, follow this link.
Read More: Angelina Jolie Executively Producing The Breadwinner.
This animated trilogy concludes on a very high note with this smart, involving and often...
For their first on-screen partnership since Mr & Mrs Smith a decade ago, Brad Pitt...
Po and The Furious Five return in Kung Fu Panda 3! Po might now be...
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt talk about the unusual situation of playing a married couple...
It's the 1970s and Roland and Vanessa are an outwardly respectable married couple, struggling to...
Po the giant panda may be ever increasing his prowess at kung-fu, but he still...
With a true story that's almost hard to believe, this inspiring biographical drama is made...
Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) is a rebel. His constant fights and reckless behaviour cause more...
Louis Zamperini has learned to fight tooth and nail for what he believes in all...
Disney rewrites its own history again with this revisionist version of its 1959 classic Sleeping...
'Maleficent' stars Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning talk about the upcoming fairytale movie alongside screenwriter...
Maleficent is a cruel sorceress who will stop at nothing to destroy those who have...
Louis Zamperini may have been a wayward child, constantly getting into trouble with the local...
Maleficent is a merciless sorceress who dubs herself the 'Mistress of All Evil'. But she...