Watch Angelina Jolie Give a Moving Speech About Sexual Violence

"This whole subject has been taboo for far too long."

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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:

Lauren Valenti
Beauty Editor

Lauren is the former beauty editor at Marie Claire. She love to while away the hours at coffee shops, hunt for vintage clothes, and bask in the rough-and-tumble beauty of NYC. She firmly believes that solitude can be a luxury if you’ve got the right soundtrack—that being the Rolling Stones, of course.