Script:
‘It is a myth that rape is an inevitable part of conflict. 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.
It is done to torture and to 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’re hurt, police we can turn to when we’re 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.
Other survivors live in countries where war is over, but the peace has brought no justice. And as an international community, we are responsible for that.
We need to shatter that culture of impunity and make justice the norm, not the exception, for these crimes.
We need political will replicated across the world and we need to treat this subject as a priority.
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.
More than 100 countries will be represented at the summit, and we will be asking them to take these measures. But we really do need your help.
This whole subject has been taboo for far too long.
War zone rape is a crime that thrives on silence and denial.
This stigma harms survivors and it causes feeling 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, ”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 must 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 this fight, and I wish us all a very productive summit.’
This essay shall attempt to analyze a speech, which was delivered by the actress and United Nations Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie. It is known that this certain text is in the form of a speech as it is written in second-person order to address an audience but still uses personal pronouns to develop a sense of opinion and awareness. In this particular speech, Jolie urges the global community to take action to put a stop to sexual violence in conflict-stricken countries. Recently, rape in war zones has been a recurring theme in Jolie’s United Nations work and this topic was brought into high relief in the UN summit: we could see that Jolie's brief opening statement matched that focus, tackling the topic in direct and forceful language. Her call to action to the delegates used her platform to speak about the issue in terms of the silence that often surrounds it. Jolie has put the time into understanding the issue firsthand, making herself an expert on an ignored issue. It shows in her remarks, loaded as they are with authentic and powerful content. As a result, she's a more credible spokesperson. “I have met survivors from Afghanistan to Somalia and they are just like us, with one crucial difference.”
Firstly, we know that the targeted audience for this speech is the global community as Jolie uses “we” to address people that are similar to her; people who live normal, fortunate lives in developed countries. This could be especially seen when Jolie says, “We live in safe countries with doctors we can go to when we’re hurt, police we can turn to when we’re wronged, and institutions that protect us… And as an international community, we are responsible for that.” Regarding the indirect audience, people who are interested in seeing Jolie’s developments in the political world or anyone that watched that particular United Nations Conference could reach this speech. It could also be seen that the purpose of this speech is to firstly educate the public about the growing crisis of sexual violence in war-stricken countries, then to inform the public about their responsibility to resolving the issue. In the beginning of the speech, Jolie starts to address her topic by giving background of sexual violence in war and the consequences it has on civilians. “It has nothing to do with sex, everything to do with power. It is done to torture and to humiliate innocent people, and often very young children.” She then starts to plug in the target audience’s responsibility in the issue in order for developed communities around the world to come to realization of the growing problem and atrocious effects to therefore unite to make a change.
Although Angelina Jolie is typically portrayed as an entertaining and talented actress in the media, this speech shows a completely opposite side to her. We could see this in the tone and mood conveyed in the speech. The tone used throughout the speech is a very formal and portrays the intention of a powerful message. The vocabulary is formal with sophisticated words however it is clear and fully understandable to reach a wide variety of audience. The speech also carries a lot of words of call to unity and action; with things such as “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.” These types of words create a mood empowerment and unity, one of the main intentions of the United Nations. By using these phrases, the speech appears to draw the public together in one mutual interest. Because this is a speech that is specifically related to war, it can be considered as one that has a gloomy mood, this can be mainly due to the fact that it is the context of a painful and sensitive subject. This however does not overpower the mood of unity that was initially created. There is also a mood of strength and power in the speech, which is a result of the strong, concise tone and diction. Finally, it has a rather instructional tone where it is asking the public to believe in the speakers’ ideas and to follow them. Since this is a political speech, it is important for the words to have an instructional tone to them.
There is nothing simple about war-zone rape, but the style and language about this speech is clear and simple. These sentences for instance- “This whole subject has been taboo for far too long. War zone rape is a crime that thrives on silence and denial."- Contain words that are quite simple and have a minimal amount of syllables. . It's a myth that you need multi-syllabic words to prove your expertise, and Jolie is smart enough to know that. Regarding the presence of literary devices in the speech, there are many instances, which allow the author to further strengthen her points. Pathos is mostly seen in several instances to appeal to the audience. This appeal to emotion can increase the overall impact on the reader by addressing the reality of the issue. Pathos is mainly used throughout the speech in places where she attempts to project unity throughout the target audience. Regarding any rhetoric devices used, it is firstly realized that anaphora is used in the beginning of Jolie's statements where she repeats words. It can be seen that she starts off her many of her sentences similarly for instance, where she describes the impacts of sexual violence by starting her sentences with "it is." Secondly, a metaphor is used when Jolie describes sexual violence as "a weapon of war." This metaphor allows us the reader or listener to understand the role of the violence in countries and the extent of the impacts it has on on those countries.
In summation, this text is in the form of a speech; a text type that is often full of different literary devices and follows a certain structure and tone in order to fulfill its message. This speech executed by Angelina Jolie does the same in order to accomplish its aforementioned aim. The targeted audience is clearly a widespread amount of general public, from fans to political leaders. The clarity of her speech justifies this claim. Jolie aims to educate the general public and members of the summit to address the seriousness of sexual violence and its impacts in third-world countries. Overall, the speech is very well crafted and convincing due to its wide range of language and devices, from emotional appeals to appeals that could reach a diverse audience.
