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Zahara Jolie-Pitt seems to be following in her famous mom’s footsteps.
The teenager was spotted with mom Angelina Jolie in Washington DC as they attended the US Senate’s bipartisan introduction of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) on Capitol Hill.
The act seeks to prevent and respond to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
In an Instagram post, the Eternals actress said her daughter’s presence helped to “calm my nerves”.
“We have to understand the trauma effects of abuse and put the health, safety, and healing of children at the centre of how our legal and medical systems approach domestic violence,” the 46-year-old Oscar-winner added. “These are national and global issues for children's and families' health and wellbeing.”
Angie has worked closely with the bill's sponsors. She advocates for the victims of domestic violence, particularly kids, and seeks to address the long-term effects the abuse has on their health.
The original Violence Against Women Act was passed in 1996 by then President Bill Clinton to investigate and prosecute violent acts against women. It also laid out guidelines for punishment. Since then it's been updated, bringing in new concessions made specifically for children and people of colour, as well as LGBTQ survivors of abuse.
Angie and Zahara (17) have been a part of this process for some time. The actress has in the past posted a series of Instagram snaps from their previous visit in December last year.
“Honored to visit Washington, DC, with Zahara, working with advocates and lawmakers to modernize and strengthen the #ViolenceAgainstWomenAct to include protections for children’s health and safety, communities of color, tribes, LGBTQ survivors, rural areas, and all survivors,” one of her posts read.
“We need reforms, including judicial training and trauma-informed court processes that minimise the risk of harm to children, grant programs for technology to detect bruising across all skin tones and create non-biased forensic evidence collection, and protections for the most vulnerable.”
She also asked her Instagram followers to go online to learn more about the new law.
Sources: people.com, Instagram, blackenterprise.com
