Angelina Jolie & John Kerry Talk Women's Rights & Environmental Action In ELLE US March 2018

Superstar Angelina Jolie sits down with former US secretary of state John Kerry to talk March 8, International Women's Day in the March 2018 issue of ELLE US. In truth, they spend as much time talking environmental issues as women's rights, although the two intersect in so many ways. As guest editor of the March 2018 issue of Vogue Australia, Emma Watson makes the same point: women suffer more than men as a result of climate change.

At age 42, Angelina Jolie has devoted herself to shedding light on women’s rights and violence against women around the world. Jolie serves as a goodwill ambassador and special envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where she’s completed nearly 60 field missions, including visits to Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. As cofounder of the British government’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, Jolie's met with rape survivors in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Days before her ELLE shoot, the Guardian published Jolie’s call to action against gender-based violence, co-authored with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Despite all her advocacy, Jolie confesses she’s always been reticent when it comes to politics. Still, she recognizes that political action can sometimes offer a more direct route to changing things for the better.

In a week where the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High are launching the #NeverAgain movement against gun violence, after 14 students and 3 teachers were mowed down by "a scrawny misfit named Nikolas Cruz", Jolie's closing ELLE interview remarks about what it means to be a girl resonate. 

 “What sets you apart is what you are willing to do for others. Anyone can put on a dress and makeup. It’s your mind that will define you. Find out who you are, what you think, and what you stand for. And fight for others to have those same freedoms. A life of service is worth living.”