The Global Summit To End Sexual Violence In Conflict kicked off today in London, hosted by Angelina Jolie and William Hague. Delegates representing over 140 countries are expected to attend and find ways to implement actionable solutions to prevent further atrocities.
“Every year, 150 million girls and women are raped in conflict around the world, along with 70 million men and boys, and the overwhelming majority of them never get justice.”
Every. Year.
Millions and millions and millions.
These are horrifying statistics. And the horror doesn’t end with the act. The horror keeps living within those victims who, too often, never have a claim to justice. As Jolie said today, this is one of the goals of the summit:
"We must send a message across the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence - the shame is on the aggressor."
You could say then that she’s trying to give the survivors a voice, leveraging her celebrity to attract worldwide attention to the cause. And at exactly the right time. This event has been scheduled two weeks after the release of her blockbuster Maleficent, the biggest box office opening of her career. Coincidence or conspiracy?
Come on. As students of pop culture, we can’t not admire this. She is the best at this. No one is better at this than Angelina Jolie.
