Violet Affleck, the 19-year-old daughter of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, took the global stage at the United Nations on September 23, delivering a passionate speech in support of mask mandates and clean air as a youth advocate.
“We are told by leaders across the board that we are the future,” she said while wearing a K95 mask, as per Independent. “But when it comes to the ongoing pandemic, our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes.”
Violet called out adults for minimizing the dangers of airborne transmission and long COVID, arguing that young people were left with little choice and insufficient information about the risks.
Warning About Long Covid’s Lasting Impact
As per the video shared by The Independent, the Harvard freshman spoke with urgency as she outlined the science behind COVID-19’s lasting dangers. “Here’s what we know about SARS CoV2. It is airborne, floating and lingering in the air; one infection can result in disabling damage to almost every cell in the body, from the brain and heart to the nerves and blood vessels,” she explained.
Quoting immunologist Dr. Akiko Iwasaki, Violet warned, “At this point, the whole population is the control group, and after only five years, long Covid has surpassed asthma as the most common chronic illness in children in five years and under.”
She admitted she was “terrified” for children in schools who may never know life without pain, exhaustion, or health struggles from repeated infections. “I am furious on their behalf,” she added, her voice filled with compassion and frustration.
A Call for Clean Air as a Human Right
(Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)In her speech, Violet compared today’s fight for clean air to the battle to ban smoking indoors. She recalled being confused by “no smoking” signs as a child and said her hope is for filtered air to one day be as universally accepted as filtered water.
“We can recognize filtered air as a human right, as intuitively as we do filtered water,” she said. “We can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous and so obviously necessary, so that tomorrow’s children don’t even know why we need it.”
Affleck & Garner’s Daughter Steps Into the Spotlight
(Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)Affleck and Garner, both 53, were married from 2005 to 2018 and share three children: Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13. Violet has occasionally accompanied her mother to significant events, including a 2022 White House state dinner.
Earlier this year, she penned an emotional essay about the toll of California wildfires on her community. Now, with her United Nations speech, Violet has stepped firmly into the spotlight, using her platform to call for clean air and to protect a generation of young people from the lasting impact of COVID-19.
