The Joyful Heart Foundation
One of my favorite tv shows is Law & Order:Special Victims Unit. And Olivia is our favorite character on the show. The person who plays Olivia, Mariska Hargitay, is the president and founder of The Joyful Heart Foundation. Its a foundation for survivors of sexual assault. One of the coolest things they do is take survivors on their program to swim with dolphins. The website has some good information for survivors, teens, supporters, and things you should do if you're ever in a potential situation for abuse. We we'd have the internet when we were teenagers. Or someone, anyone, to tell us these things. We were never talked to, never warned, never told what to do. But now we DO have the internet, and programs-- and The Joyful Heart Foundation is great. Be sure to check it out.
Posted by pilgrim | Filed under:
I started watching SVU when I was 13 and since then I can't stop watching it. I have heard of the JHF before and I agree that it's a great website for survivors. I look up to Mariska a lot. She is the reason I want to help rape victims as a living. My family and teachers think i'm sick because I want to be a police officer and work with rape victims. But I don't let it bother me because I know that this is what I want to do with my life. I hope that more victims will speak up and tell their story. I am only 15 but I know that i want to make a difference and help stop sexual assult.
Sarah if that is what you have your heart set on doing, then don't let ANYONE get in your way! The world needs more caring, helpful people to help victims of rape. Its sad that there are so many of them. Best of luck on reaching your dream. I am sure you will be good at it since you have a passion to help.
It's good to have a positive comment after a while. My whole family tells me to shut up about my dreams and watching SVU won't help me reach my goal. I know that but that doesn't mean I can't ask for advice from my family. I'm sick of being put down.
i have read about this before as well and was overjoyed. i love the show as well, but when i found out what Mariska was doing i gained sooo much respect for her. i also read that the content of the show really affected her, and that's why she decided to do something for survivors. a person like her makes me think that there are some good people in the world.