SEATTLE, Washington — Sophie Turner is most famous for playing Sansa Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones and for starring as Jean Grey in the newest X-Men franchise. In addition to acting, Turner has been engaged in philanthropy benefitting women and children around the world for years. So far, much of the charity work of Sophie Turner has been concentrated around the organization Women for Women International.

Women For Women International

Turner’s work with Women for Women begun after a public outcry surrounding a scene of sexual assault in an episode of Game of Thrones. “I wondered why people feel so impassioned to speak out about a fictional rape when this happens all over the world every day? So unless we continually keep broadcasting people’s stories of sexual violence, then how else are people going to respond,” Turner wrote in a column for Above Whispers.

The public’s negative response to sexual violence on screen gave Turner motivation to enact change surrounding the conversation and actions surrounding sexual assault. Turner said that Women for Women was a “perfect” organization for her because it aligned with the goals she made for herself in the aftermath of her character’s assault on Game of Thrones. On International Women’s day 2017, Turner announced she had become a patron of Women for Women International U.K.

Sophie Turner in Rwanda

Women for Women International supports women who live in some of the most dangerous areas around the world by providing a year-long training program for war survivors. The program educates women on money saving, family health and taking action to better their communities and make their voices heard. Turner was invited by the organization to go to Rwanda where women are still recovering from the 1994 genocide that killed more than 1 million people in 100 days.

The U.N. projects that 500,000 women were raped during the genocide. During Turner’s visit, she saw the program in action, met some of its graduates and saw them accomplishing their goals and using their training to create sustainable lives for themselves and their families. Through this experience, Turner learned “how important relationships are with women. Being someone’s sponsor can really change someone’s life for the better,” she said.

Using Fame for a Cause

The charity work of Sophie Turner does not stop with Women for Women. To promote her newest film, Dark Phoenix, premiering June 6, Turner sponsored a sweepstake to meet her and the X-Men cast. The profits generated from the entrance fee were distributed between four organizations that Turner had selected. Women for Women is one of them. The others are the Venice Family Clinic, a medical unit for homeless individuals, RainCatcher, who provides safe, clean water to all corners of the world and The Prince’s Trust, a British youth development organization.

Turner has figured out ways to use her fame to spread awareness for charitable causes. It is clear that, even though Game of Thrones is over, the charity work of Sophie Turner is not.

– Ava Gambero

Photo: Flickr