Our Story

When Mariska Hargitay started playing Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims’ Unit, the content of the scripts, as well as the work she did to prepare for the role, opened her eyes to the staggering statistics about sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse in the United States. She received hundreds, then thousands of letters and emails from survivors disclosing their stories of abuse, many for the first time. She wanted to answer—really answer—those letters, to address the suffering they described, and honor acts of courage they represented. 

Her response was to create the Joyful Heart Foundation. 

Since 2004, Joyful Heart has been a leading national organization with a mission to transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors’ healing, and end this violence forever.

Joyful Heart carries out its mission through an integrated program portfolio of education and advocacy. Our work is paving the way for innovative approaches to treating trauma; igniting shifts in the way the public views and responds to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse; and reforming and advancing policies and legislation to ensure access to justice for survivors.

A snapshot of our incredible journey includes:

Heal the Healers

Joyful Heart created a Heal the Healers program in 2010. The initiative was created to address the vicarious trauma professionals often deal with while regularly working with survivors. Because of the nature of the difficult work, trauma professionals can experience secondary trauma, guilt, fear, and helplessness. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a common response from professionals who provide services to survivors. 

The Heal the Healers (HTH) Fund grantmaking program is a micro-grant fund created by the Joyful Heart Foundation to provide financial support for professionals working directly with survivors. These grants will be awarded to organizations who wish to develop programs or buy equipment to support their colleagues who may be experiencing or at risk of experiencing vicarious trauma as a result of their work. The HTH Fund aims to provide communities with programming, training, or equipment that can sustain wellness within the organization beyond the grant cycle through including aspects of the pillars of self-care: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational, and social wellbeing. 

Ending the Rape Kit Backlog

Since 2010, Joyful Heart has made the elimination of the rape kit backlog a top priority through our End the Backlog initiative. Together with partners in federal, state, and local government, non-profit organizations, law enforcement, advocates, and survivors, we are working to improve the criminal justice response to sexual violence. We are at the forefront of identifying backlogs of untested rape kit evidence in cities across the country; advocating for funding to test backlogged kits and investigate cases; appealing for laws and policies to prevent backlogs from occurring again; and working with jurisdictions to assist them to develop and implement survivor-centered reforms. 

Through endthebacklog.org, the first and only online hub for information about the rape kit backlog, we are sharing best practices, resources, progress on reform, and a way for people to join this growing movement. 

Joyful Heart has identified more than 225,000 untested rape kits sitting in police, crime lab, or other storage facilities across the U.S. And with several states remaining that have yet to count the untested rape kits in their possession, we believe there are several hundred thousand more yet to be discovered. In 2016 we launched a national campaign based on six essential pillars for reform. The goal: to pass comprehensive rape kit reform legislation in all 50 states.

I AM EVIDENCE

Mariska produced the Best Documentary Emmy-award winning HBO film I AM EVIDENCE in 2017, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The documentary, directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir, follows the stories of survivors whose rape kits remained untested for years, as well as the law enforcement officials leading the charge to pursue long-awaited justice in these cases. As the lead social action campaign partner for the film, Joyful Heart continues to leverage the film as a catalyst for meaningful reform and grassroots activism in communities looking to enact rape kit reforms. Already, we have facilitated screenings in all 50 states. The film is available via HBO services.

Retreats: For the mind, body, and spirit

As our first initiative, Joyful Heart developed a signature retreat program to help survivors heal in mind, body, and spirit. During survivor retreats, participants engaged in activities to address the effects of trauma and learn how to better cope without having to discuss their experiences. The retreats had a holistic approach, integrating traditional healing methods with creative expression, breathwork, yoga, movement, and experiencing nature. They addressed how the mind, body, and spirit can help with survivors’ healing process. 

After nearly 1,000 survivors participated in our programs, Joyful Heart embarked on a multi-year research project with Dr. Mary Ann Dutton, renowned professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University, to evaluate the effectiveness of our survivor retreat program in reducing stress-related trauma and improving well-being. We partnered with Peace Over Violence, Center for Community Solutions, The Village Family Services, YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, Rainbow Services, and Homeboy Industries to gather accurate research data. A final report on the Survivor Retreat Model project is expected to be released in 2020. This evaluation will reveal the retreat development process, retreat experience, and post-retreat findings. It will inform an evidence-based model that can be adopted by partner organizations to use and offer to survivors, professionals who serve them, and communities beyond our current reach.

Engaging Men & Boys

The Law & Order: SVU episode “Personal Fouls” kicked off Joyful Heart’s Engaging Men efforts in 2011. The episode, which drew in more than 15 million viewers, was the show’s first focusing on sexual abuse of male children and adolescents by a trusted coach. Joyful Heart has since partnered with 1in6 and A CALL TO MEN on initiatives aimed at engaging men—as survivors, as bystanders—to join the efforts to end sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse.

Efforts have included producing several public service announcements, developing resources to help individuals find information, support, and ways to get involved in efforts to end this violence, and groundbreaking research, “Defining Manhood for the Next Generation: Exploring Young Men’s Perceptions of Gender Roles and Violence,” which explores young men’s attitudes around gender roles, masculinity, and the characteristics of “good men,” and the male role models who influence these views.