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On Friday, Angelina Jolie was in South Africa to attend a panel discussion and make a speech about sexual/gender violence in conflict. Jolie co-hosted the huge summit on Sexual Violence in Conflict last summer, and this appearance was an extension of her ongoing work. Like she did in London, Angelina appealed with William Hague, the now former Secretary of State of Great Britain. Hague and Jolie are tight, and have been close allies and friends for several years now. His continued involvement with this issue (even now that he’s out of office) makes me believe that he really cares about violence against women in a real way.

Superficial note: Angelina’s grey dress in these photos is by Michael Kors. She really doesn’t look like she’s wearing much makeup and her continued work with these causes is not “glamorous.” And I love that about her. The other woman in these photos is African Union Commission chairperson Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma. The conference in Johannesburg was part of the annual African Union Summit.

As I said, Jolie gave a speech about violence against women, specifically within war or conflict zones. She said, in part: “There is a global epidemic of violence against women – both within conflict zones and within societies at peace – and it is still treated as a lesser crime and lower priority…The near-total impunity that exists worldwide for crimes against women, in conflict zones in particular, means that we are seeing more and more armed groups turn it into their weapon of choice. Women and girls are bearing the brunt of extremists that revel in treating them barbarically. This is inextricably linked to our overall failure to prevent and end conflicts worldwide, which is causing human suffering on an unprecedented level.” I’m including a video below – skip ahead to the one-minute mark to see part of her speech.

View image | gettyimages.com

View image | gettyimages.com

Photos courtesy of Getty.