Angelina Jolie moving speech about sexual violence

"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."

"As Eleanor Roosevelt once said," she continued, "'The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens and all our communities,' and this evil will continue ruining the lives of millions of people unless we make this summit a turning point. And we can. We must send a message around 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."