Anne Hathaway delivered a powerful speech at the UN Headquarters in New York, acknowledging the risks women and girls continue to face amidst extreme gender violence.
Hathaway was speaking at the UN’s official Commemoration of International Women’s Day as its UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, a position she has held since 2016. Since her appointment, she has regularly made public statements about the importance of gender equality and addressed the UN General Assembly.
“The distance between the promise of equality and the experience of it are yet still so far apart, for so many,” the actor said this week. “It’s hard knowing that this day which is meant to celebrate women must yet still be about how unsafe it is to be a woman — even less safe to be a girl.”
Hathaway identified Giselle Pelicot, Virginia Guiffre, and Malala Yousafzai as three women who, despite enduring horrific violence, fought for justice and “honouring their own right to dignity, changed the world.”
She went on to insist that women’s progress needed to be celebrated, especially on International Women’s Day.
“We celebrate their defiance, and we in turn are defiant in celebration,” she said. “Our fighters have been the cornerstone of accountability as political landscapes have changed and as power players have shifted. They have kept the momentum of progress moving forward to all corners of the world.”
Though progress can be “devastatingly slow”, the Oscar winner praised the work of strong, autonomous, feminist movements, saying their efforts are responsible for government action that addresses violence against women.
“We come together in tribute to the hope and the work and the grit of those who have not yielded to cynicism, who leave the candle of our collective faith in the importance of justice ever-lit.”
“With every person who commits to ending gender-based violence in the physical and digital worlds; who commits to championing women’s economic empowerment; who demonstrates authentic communication by listening and uplifting the voices of the unheard and, in doing so, blunts the danger of silence and self-censorship.”
Hathaway has an extensive history of advocating for gender equality. As well as her role as UN Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, she has worked with the Nike Foundation, the World Bank and The Girl Effect to promote programs that improve girls’ education and economic opportunities. In 2013, she was among a group of A-list celebrities who narrated a documentary, Girl Rising, which highlighted the importance of educating young girls.