entertainment

Angelina Jolie speaks out against rape in war zones

22 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

22 Comments
Login to comment

@kidojapan: When dod Hashimoto and Ishihsra became women?

Just because spmeone earn good money does not mean they should be prohibited from Freedom of Speech.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

As dreadful as it is trying to ban rape in a war zone is probably going to be about as effective as stopping the killing of noncombatants in a war zone. War is awful on many levels.....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The best way to stop sexual abuse and raping is to stop the war at the first place, war is responsible for all kind of atrocities through out the world. Most of the world population is suffering from poverty and unemployment, but how much the world spending making weapons and armies

0 ( +0 / -0 )

“comfort women” and provide sex to Japanese soldiers. Who started this nice phrase to describe what happened during WWII? It should say 'Women were raped by Japanese soldiers. But hey, the generation now never learned and dont really care about anything slightly intelligent, so I am sure the response of the audience must have been; 'E E E E...'

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Of course she must be commended for her work.

But we should end war itself, not just rape in war.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Comfort women? I thought Hashimoto said they all volunteered. However, sadly, this kind of behavior is not unique to Japan. It has been the norm for invading armies for thousands of years. It was standard practice for Roman armies.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

@ryukyustriker

Sure and the German soldiers were angels at the eastern front.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I like how nobody knows Russia during WW2 and Japan is brought up all the time. The majority of the assaults were committed in the Soviet occupation zone; estimates of the numbers of German women raped by Soviet soldiers range from the tens of thousands to 2 million. In many cases women were the victims of repeated rapes, some as many as 60 to 70 times. At least 100,000 women are believed to have been raped in Berlin, based on surging abortion rates in the following months and contemporary hospital reports, with an estimated 10,000 women dying in the aftermath. Female deaths in connection with the rapes in Germany, overall, are estimated at 240,000. Antony Beevor describes it as the "greatest phenomenon of mass rape in history", and has concluded that at least 1.4 million women were raped in East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia alone. Natalya Gesse claimed that Russian soldiers raped German females from eight to eighty years old. Russian women were not spared either.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Does Hashimoto kun and Ishihara kun were guest in the event? She should also make a speech in Osaka city.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

How about stop the wars and bloodletting on the various battlefields as pawns of the politicos? Violence begets more violence.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I guess Brad will be making a speech on somethying worthy today too. Good that they use their trip to Japan to speak out on these pressing global issues. Need Abe to add his voice to this call for global peace and love.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sh'yeah. I'm sure your voice will put an end to this ancient practice, Jolie. Woopedy--doo!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Sweet. Not sure it will make a blind bit of difference, but nice thought.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Thanks Angelina, need to also hold a speach and make sure the US servicemen are present to listen, you have many good points to share with your American military people.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Conversely Jolie - using her celebrity and vast sums of her own money - has done more for the awareness and plight of refugees worldwide through the UNHCR than any "regular" person could ever accomplish in those same 10 lifetimes

I think that this says more about the sick, celebrity obsessed culture that we live in rather the issues. One person has a pretty face and fame and they are listened to, another person spends years in the field actually studying the issue and they are virtual ignored by the mainstream. Don't get me wrong this lady is obviously a celebrity with a genuine conscience and compassion towards those suffering in the world but the fact that you have to have a face that fits to be listened to, particularly if you are a women says volumes about the sick societies we have created. And unfortunately we will get nowhere near solving the world's problems with the same sick mindset we had when we created them. Alas the messenger in this case is much more important than the message.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

I definitely respect Angelina Jolie, she has done a lot to try to improve people's lives around the world.

And she's definitely improved Brad's life!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Jolie is just another celeb face who has "earned" tens of millions for doing very little. A single movie with a few hundred hours will pay her more than what the average person would get in 10 lifetimes af full-time work.

Conversely Jolie - using her celebrity and vast sums of her own money - has done more for the awareness and plight of refugees worldwide through the UNHCR than any "regular" person could ever accomplish in those same 10 lifetimes...

The river flows both ways - sure she earns exorbitant amounts of money doing her day job but she also gives back both in her time and her money... So minimal research on your part would find that she is not one of these "cause du jour" celebs from Hollywood that drives a Fisker around town because it appeals to her demographic - she in fact takes time from her busy schedule to become directly involved in trying to help... More than I could say for 99.5% of the people I meet...

Since she has no other real hardship in her life other than maintaining her figure and shopping for clothes which cost at least 4 figures, she has to find something else to whine about.

Wow, you seem to have a terminal case of Sour grapes it seems - jealous much ? People such as yourself are at the root of the problem - too busy thinking and lusting after what other people have vs. being concerned about what others do not have...

Why not show how responsible you are by making a donation to "Japan for UNHCR" or some other charity of your choice....

14 ( +17 / -3 )

She should meet the Mayor of Osaka, that would be interesting.

12 ( +13 / -1 )

Nice of her to "speak out", although not sure it is going to resonate with warlords in the Congo or jihadists in Syria.....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

she pointed at the comfort woman issues.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

In a zone where people are killing one another, and law is virtually non-existent, and blood lust is at a fever pitch, is it a surprise that rapes (and worse) occur? Trying to prevent rapes in a war zone is about as difficult as staying dry in a waterfall. If they want to prevent the rapes, they are going to have to prevent the wars. But we all know that such a thing is not going to happen. What is being done in Syria right now? Third parties are funneling in money, arms and soldiers. Muslims want a new Muslim republic, Russia and China are supplying weapons to the current regime so it can honor oil contracts, and so on and so on. People are dying, and rapes are occurring, as they have in wars since human beings first came to be.

Jolie is just another celeb face who has "earned" tens of millions for doing very little. A single movie with a few hundred hours will pay her more than what the average person would get in 10 lifetimes af full-time work. Since she has no other real hardship in her life other than maintaining her figure and shopping for clothes which cost at least 4 figures, she has to find something else to whine about. She has as much business discussing war as Mickey Mouse, yet the room was full of reporters copying down her enlightened litany with bated breath.

-5 ( +9 / -14 )

I can imagine a few of the Japanese journalists shuffling around somewhat uncomfortably in their chair through this interview.

Actually, what am I talking about? That wouldn't happen at all.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites