Charity Spotlight: Joyful Heart Foundation

In , the year that Mariska Hargitay landed the role of sex-crimes detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU,” she learned that one in three women is a survivor of sexual abuse. Those staggering statistics shocked her into becoming a rape crisis counselor.

“The training really informed how I wanted to play this character in terms of understanding what survivors needed,” Hargitay says. “I think it informed my entire life.” Five years later, on her honeymoon, she started the Joyful Heart Foundation.

Now, when young women send Hargitay letters about their trauma, she knows how to help — especially if the women come forward shortly after their assault. “I swing into action. If you catch it early enough and you process how to feel about it so the shame isn’t integrated into your person, then we can say, ‘This is something that happened that shouldn’t have. It doesn’t de ne you.’”

The foundation works not only to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse but also to change society’s response to them. “People are starting to pay attention to these numbers,” Hargitay says. “People are going, ‘Oh, it’s not just me.’”

Joyful Heart launched a survivor retreat program, where survivors can heal with others with similar experiences. It has also prioritized eliminating the backlog of rape kits that sit untested in police departments. Additionally, Joyful Heart created a program to support trauma professionals.

This is all because of Hargitay’s hard work. “Her decades of steadfast advocacy on behalf of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse has truly changed how we all talk about these crimes,” says executive director Robyn Mazur of Hargitay’s hands-on work with the foundation for the past years. “Her passion and encouragement has been the driving force at the organization, and every day I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish next.”