Natalie Portman speaks at the UN

Brut America

Natalie Portman urged world leaders at the United Nations to put an end to violence against women and girls.

Transcript

00:00When I was 25, I traveled to Uganda.

00:02There, I met a woman, Fatima, who started her own business

00:06cooking food at a stall in the market.

00:08She had three children and her own home.

00:11When I asked her what the best part of having her business

00:13was, she answered me that it was the ability

00:16to throw out her abusive husband because she

00:18was financially independent.

00:21Fatima's freedom from violence afforded to her

00:23by economic independence allowed every other area of her life

00:27to thrive.

00:28I had never before realized the interconnectedness

00:31of economic empowerment and physical safety,

00:34but I quickly understood this was not

00:36the case only for Fatima, but for women globally.

00:39As one of my favorite writers, Rebecca Solnit,

00:41put it so well in her book, Men Explain Things to Me,

00:45we tend to treat violence and the abuse of power

00:48as though they fit into airtight categories, harassment,

00:51intimidation, threat, battery, rape, murder.

00:56But we need to address the slippery slope

00:59rather than compartmentalizing the varieties of misogyny

01:02and dealing with each separately.

01:03The overwhelming levels of violence against women

01:06and girls is as much a threat to our voices

01:09as it is to our lives.

01:10Humanity is losing out on the full expression of half

01:13its citizens as those citizens are

01:15being deprived of their essential human rights.

01:18I encourage every country here to develop a national plan

01:21to end violence against women and girls

01:23based on the Spotlight Initiative's

01:25comprehensive model.

01:26Every country should have adequately funded budgets

01:29dedicated to ending violence against women and girls

01:32and to create an environment where survivors feel supported

01:36and perpetrators are held accountable.

01:38And I urge UN member states to reinvest

01:41in the Spotlight Initiative and its comprehensive model.

01:44Let us continue to amplify the voices of survivors,

01:47advocate for justice, and stand against the injustices

01:51faced by women and girls worldwide.

01:53Together we can build a future where violence

01:55against women and girls becomes a dark chapter in history

01:59and where their rights are respected,

02:01their voices realized.

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