According to Reuters Hollywood filmstar Angelina Jolie has condemned sexual violence inflicted on Rohingya women in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where a military counter-insurgency operation has sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees across the border to Bangladesh.
Hollywood actor and rights advocate Angelina Jolie, was speaking at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Summit being held in Vancouver.
In her keynote address, who is the Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees highlighted the plight of Rohingya women seeking shelter in the refugee camps in the neighbouring Bangladesh.
"According to the UN, almost every female Rohingya refugee in the camps in Bangladesh is either a survivor of sexual violence or a witness to multiple incidences of sexual assault, rape or gang‑rape," she stated
Adding to this, she said half of the patients treated for rape have reportedly been under the age of 18.
"Despite being prohibited by law, sexual violence continues to be employed as a tactic of war in 19 countries. It includes mass rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, and rape of as a form of torture, ethnic cleansing and terrorism."
She further added while "conflict-related sexual violence is clearly understood as a crime, it is treated as a lesser crime", where it is not included in peace negotiations or agreements.
"But sexual violence is a weapon, used to deliberate effect, to achieve military or political objectives."
"It is cheaper than a bullet, and it has lasting consequences, that unfold with sickening predictability.
According to a statement by the Bangladesh foreign ministry, Jolie is planning to visit the Rohingya victims of sexual violence.