The Joyful Heart Foundation is a campaign that was first founded by Mariska Hargitay in 2004 after she portrayed the character Olivia Benson on the famous drama series Law and Oder: Special Victims Unit where they covered topics such as abuse; sexual, domestic and child abuse. But after an episode had aired she received countless emails from survivors who disclosed their stories on their experience with said abuse. She even revealed that people on the street would typically ask for an autograph but it would slowly turn into people admitting to the abuse they received, which she said proved how desperate they were to finally be heard.
This led her to create The Joyful Heart Foundation, a campaign to help victims heal and begin a new chapter of their life without that fear or darkness following them, she stated that she wanted to let all the brave men and women who experienced this abuse were being heard and they were no alone. This was a word she said was repeated constantly in emails and conversations, “alone” and that urged her to make that feeling disappear.
“I created The Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004 to help survivors of sexual assault heal their minds, bodies and spirits and reclaim their lives.” – Mariska
Andre Braugher
In 2013 they launched the “NO MORE” campaign to bring awareness to the issue at stake. They did both a video series which had celebrities talking about abuse as well as a series of prints of male and female celebrities with a quote under the slogan. For example, the one above “it’s just a women’s issue” is a toxic mentality some people have these days, where they refuse to acknowledge abuse is an issue with both men and women.
The campaign involved over 75 celebrities.
Courtney Cox
Mariska stated that although she had a role to play on television, she felt some responsibility for them. They opened up to her and bravely told them their stories and she wanted to ensure they knew they were being heard and could stop living in fear.
When the program first began, they quickly realised that many different people heal in various ways so they started to create new ways for each individual to help them find the right way for them to begin recovering.
“When people are abused and assaulted, it is like the doors to their souls slam shut. The goal of Joyful Heart is to let the light, and the life, back in—to banish the darkness and let the healing begin.”
– Mariska Hargitay, Founder & President of the Joyful Heart Foundation
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