Sophie Turner wasn't surprised by the level of fan anger that followed the Season 5 rape of her Game of Thrones character, Sansa Stark, one of many instances of physical and psychological abuse inflicted on the young woman in HBO's hit drama.

However, she was taken aback by how the outrage was so focused on the fictional story.

“To a certain level, I expected that controversy, but … I was thinking, 'Why is there so much backlash when this is happening to women all over the world, every single day?' ” Turner says. “So I decided it would be a great idea to use this kind of attention … and divert (it) onto real topics about real women suffering from this.”

Toward that end, Turner, 21, became involved as a United Kingdom Patron of Women for Women International, a non-profit group that helps women in war-torn countries develop skills to improve their financial and physical well-being. Some of the women have been sexually assaulted, Turner says.

"I wanted to use the attention going toward the show for a really good cause,” says the actress, who traveled to Africa in March to witness the organization’s work with women, many of whom survived the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s.

“Women for Women gives them life skills to rebuild their lives. They’ve lost their husbands and, in Rwanda, it’s still kind of the patriarchy where husbands are the ones who go out and get the money and are involved in all the farming and looking after the animals,” says Turner, who blogged about her experience for Huffington Post.

“These women have not only been mentally scarred but are scarred ecologically, too. They don’t have the skills or finances to look after (their) kids without their husbands,” she explains. The work is “about teaching them savings and how to farm and look after their animals. It’s not just about providing them with mental care. It’s about creating a plan for their future. It’s a really wonderful organization.”

In the fantasy world of HBO’s Thrones, Sansa has overcome her mistreatment, which included the rape by Ramsay Bolton, to become a powerful, self-reliant young woman.

Turner has come to appreciate the negative response to Thrones' sexual violence from fans, including many who already were upset with Sansa's mistreatment.

“I’m actually glad there was such an uproar, because there was a discussion, and that discussion is so important. We need to keep that going and keep it in the forefront of our minds and not make (the subject) such a taboo,” she says. “Otherwise, these women — and men — are shunned into silence. So, I think it was kind of a blessing in disguise.”