Theron, who was inducted as UN's messenger of peace, will focus on ending violence against women under Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's initiative ‘United to End Violence Against Women.’
Introducing her, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said Theron is much more than a movie star. "She is a great humanitarian who is using her capacity as celebrity to draw attention to the plight of millions of nameless women who are suffering from violence and abuse.’
Underscoring the importance of her task, Migiro highlighted the case of a 13 year-old girl who was stoned to death in Somalia in front of a huge mob last month for reporting her rape to local authorities.
‘She was brutalised twice first by her attackers [and] then by the authorities. Tragically this type of violence in perpetrated to various degrees all around the world, the Deputy Secretary-General added.
Theron told mediapersons after the induction ceremony that it is hard to ignore violence in her native South Africa, where one in three women will experience rape in her lifetime.
‘I really look forward to working with this great Organisation and its wonderful people to get a strong message across, a message of no acceptance of this any more,’ she added.
The UN statistics show that at least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. One in five women worldwide will become a victim of rape or attempted rape, and up to 130 million women have been genitally mutilated.
