Angelina Jolie speaks out against sexual violence

On Tuesday, June 10, the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict was kick-started in London by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. Clad in a white Michael Kors blazer and a skirt from the Spring 2014 collection, the Maleficent actress is co-hosting the summit along with England's Foreign Secretary William Hague. Jolie delivered a moving speech for all those people who have gone through sexual abuse.

The 39-year-old actress stated, "It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict.” She added, "There is nothing inevitable about it. It is a weapon of war aimed at civilians. It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power." Jolie, who is also a special envoy of the United Nations, also shared some ideas to put an end to the culture of sexual violence. Jolie said, "We need to see real commitment to go after the worst perpetrators, to fund proper protection for vulnerable people and to step in and help the worst affected countries. We need all armies, peacekeeping troops and police forces to have the prevention of sexual violence in conflict as part of their training."

She continued her speech saying, "As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, 'The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all of our citizens and all our communities.' And this evil will continue to ruin the lives of millions of people unless we make this summit a turning point--and we can. We can send a message across the world that there is no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence, that the shame is on the aggressor. We must work together in new and unprecedented ways across borders and religions bringing governments and people together and tackling the problem from every possible angle and by doing this we can end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war once and for all. We really can do it. So, thank you so much for joining us today, for joining us in his fight, and I wish us all a very productive summit."