There are certain times when celebrities should and shouldn’t get involved with important issues. Alicia Silverstone’s ‘parenting’ book, David Bowie’s strange outburst concerning Scottish independence at the Brit Awards and Jared Leto discussing Ukraine and Venezuela during his Oscar acceptance speech are all pretty good examples of when it’s probably wise to discuss something they actually know about.

Michelle Obama BringBackOurGirlsFirst Lady Michelle Obama has used her Twitter account to raise awareness of the kidnapping

However, celebrities worldwide have teamed together to help raise awareness for one very important current issue. Nearly a month ago around 270 school girls were kidnapped from their boarding school in Nigeria by Islamist militants. A few were able to escape, but most of them were smuggled into the Sambisa forest, where it is feared they will be sold into sex slavery and trafficked to other countries.

MORE: Angelina Jolie condemns Nigerian schoolgirl kidnappings

The Islamist group, known as Boko Haram, have released a video of roughly 130 dressed in Muslim clothes and reading passages from the Qur’an. The girls who were kidnapped were mostly of the Christian faith. The video also included a threat from Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, vowing that the girls will not be seen again unless “you release our brothers that you have captured.”

The world has been shocked by the mass kidnapping, while celebrities all around the world have lent their voice to the cause. The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has been used by celebrities such as Amy Poehler, Alicia Keys, Cara Delevingne and Michelle Obama.


Angelina Jolie, who is a UN ambassador, has been very vocal on the subject, stopping on the red carpet at the premiere for her new movie Maleficent to discuss the kidnapping. She explains, “We have to start arresting people for this, we have to start bringing them to justice,” adding, “These things escalate, and I can’t imagine anyone from that region isn’t terrified that the worst is yet to come.”


The most we can really hope is that the awareness the stars are raising will keep this story alive, too many disasters like this are forgotten with time.  With continued awareness the world can carry on fighting for the safe return of the girls to their families. 

Do you think #BringBackOurGirls hashtag has been of some use to the cause?

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