Days after Angelina Jolie bravely spoke out against film producer Harvey Weinstein amid allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, the mother-of-six has penned an open later about women's rights, discussing the importance of women's education and health and humanity's responsibility for the world.
To celebrate Harper's Bazaar's 150th Anniversary collector's edition, the Maleficient actress wrote: 'Women make up most of the world's poor...when the environment is damaged—for example when fishing stocks are destroyed, wildlife is killed by poachers, or tropical forests are bulldozed—it deepens their poverty.
'Women's education and health are the first things to suffer,' she wrote.
Referencing recent statistics from the World Economic Forum which predicted that it will take 83 years for the gaps in rights and opportunities between women and men to close in all countries, Jolie added: 'This is not about progress for women at the expense of men, but about finding an equal balance that benefits everyone.
'Eighty-three years seems far longer than anyone, man or woman, would ever hope for or imagine.'
Discussing her latest film, The Breadwinner, which tells the story of an 11-year-old Afghan girl who dresses as a boy in order to feed her family in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the 42-year-old adds: 'Each of us has the power to make an impact through our everyday choices. For instance, we can commit to never buying illegal wildlife products such as ivory and rhino horn. We can end the demand for wild animals as pets.'
Concluding her piece, the actress wrote: 'There is a lot we can't predict about the world 150 years from now. But we do know that our great-grandchildren will be living with the consequences of decisions we make now, just as we can trace the origin of problems we are dealing with today to their roots in earlier centuries.'
The humanitarian's wise words comes amid her admission that she was once victim to film mogul Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment.
Jolie told the New York Times that Weinstein made unwanted advances on her in a hotel room in the late 1990s. 'I had a bad experience with Harvey Weinstein in my youth, and as a result, chose never to work with him again and warn others when they did,' she said in an email.
'This behaviour towards women in any field, any country is unacceptable.'
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
