Charlize Theron seems to be following the career path of Angelina Jolie. First she wins an Academy Award and now she's becoming more involved in international affairs, with a specific focus on violence against women. This makes sense given her South African childhood that involved domestic violence. As reported by Reuters...

Oscar-winning South African-born actress Charlize Theron was named a United Nations messenger of peace on Friday, with a special focus on ending violence against women.

Messengers of peace, of which there will now be 10, are celebrities mainly from the fields of film, music, literature and sport who are charged with promoting U.N. activities and ideals through public appearances and media contacts.

Theron, 33, won an Academy Award for her role in the 2003 movie "Monster," in which she played serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who came from a background of violence and abuse and was executed in Florida in 2002.

In the 2005 film, "North Country" she played a woman who fights back against sexual harassment.

Theron, named by Esquire magazine last year as its "Sexiest Woman Alive," has also been involved in charitable causes such as putting mobile health clinics in rural areas of her native South Africa where access to care is limited.

She had her own experience of domestic violence at the age of 15 when her mother fatally shot her alcoholic father as he threatened the family in a drunken rage.

Designating her a messenger of peace, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "You have used your voice, compassion and special relationship with the public to create a better world."

I'd attempt to make some sort of wise crack, but Theron doesn't give me much to work with; she's beautiful, smart, a genuinely good actress and politically involved without coming off as condescending or self congratulating for being a good person. So instead, I'll just admire her in these pictures at a party recently hosted by Vogue.