Angelina Jolie Talks About Sexual Violence In War And Calls ‘Maleficent’ A Metaphor For Rape

Angelina Jolie, who recently cited Maleficent as a metaphor for rape, appeared alongside her fiancé Brad Pitt to discuss sexual violence in war at a global summit in London. Jolie’s speech was in an effort to make those aware of the sexual crimes committed in war and to end the violence in conflict.

According to British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Jolie and Pitt bring mega star power to the issue at hand, which is the sexual violence committed and used as a weapon in war. Jolie isn’t new to talking about violence in war, as the actress has been working with Hague for two years to make the four-day summit happen.

During the opening on Thursday, Jolie addressed those who made up the summit, which included 1,200 government ministers, officials, activists, and members of judiciaries and militaries.

“It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict. There is nothing inevitable about it.

“We, as an international community, have never done enough to stop this abuse and we do survivors a disservice when they know we are aware but do nothing to hold the perpetrators accountable.”

Jolie continued:

“Today we have an opportunity to begin to change that.”

During her speech, Jolie said that the summit needs to be an event in which action is taken so it won’t be just a “talking shop.”

In addition to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s star power, William Hague highlighted Angelina’s passion and exposure in the media as a force in addressing the issue of sexual violence in war.

“You need something much more than government to be able to reach people who don’t easily listen to governments and Angelina brings that, as well as having great knowledge and passion about these issues.”

As we previously reported Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian efforts go back to 2001. During that year she traveled to Sierra Leone as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and witnessed years of impact. In 2011 Jolie directed In the Land of Blood and Honey, which was about the Bosnian war and the 100,000 killings that occurred.

Hague was so touched by the film that he decided to contact the actress, and that started their two-year journey on bringing the summit to life.

In addition to Angelina’s speech at the summit she also riled up a few people with her assertion that her film Maleficent is a metaphor for rape. Jolie, who is referring to a scene where Maleficent’s wings are cut off while she’s sleeping, said of the film, “We were very conscious, the writer [Linda Woolverton] and I, that it was a metaphor for rape.”

[Image via Walt Disney]