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Miss North Carolina USA: Advocating for Change
Caelynn Miller-Keyes is Miss North Carolina USA 2018. She received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University and currently works as a mentor to young girls at Windy Gap, a Young Life camp in Weaverville. As Miss North Carolina USA she is committed to improving policies for sexual assault survivors and inspiring other survivors who want to share their experience.
A shocking number of rape kits are untested—Mariska Hargitay wants to change that
Mariska Hargitay has been investigating crimes as Olivia Benson on Law & Order for almost two decades. And now she’s fighting for real-life justice to end rape-kit backlog, which is the subject of her new HBO documentary, I Am Evidence.
The Intersections of Disability and Violence
NPR called it the “assault epidemic no one talks about.” Each year, people with disabilities—physical, mental, intellectual, and others—face disproportionate rates of sexual and domestic violence. And too often, they do not receive the support they need.
Introducing Joyful Heart en Español
Joyful Heart’s website now offers Spanish-language resources to make our educational materials about sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse accessible to those who speak Spanish, including the more than 40 million Spanish speakers in the United States.
Seven Tips To Help Men Speak Out in Support of #MeToo
At the Golden Globe Awards last month, the #MeToo movement and TIME’S UP initiative took center stage. In a visually stunning show of solidarity, attendees—both women and men —wore black eveningwear and “Time’s Up” pins. But while nearly every woman who accepted an award spoke out in support of survivors in all industries, expressed their gratitude for the silence breakers, and called for change, not one man mentioned the #MeToo or TIME’S UP movements in their acceptance speeches. Not one.
6 Tips for Parents Talking About Dating Abuse
Parents who suspect their child is in an unhealthy relationship may not know how to help. Parents can begin discussing healthy relationships and signs of dating abuse with their children before they even begin dating. Here are six tips on how parents can navigate having conversations about dating violence with their children.
1. Educate yourself.
Heartbreaking PSA highlights the massive backlog of untested rape kits
A new public service announcement is shining a much-needed light on the thousands of rape kits that go untested every year in the U.S.
The Joyful Heart Foundation, which created the PSA, estimates that hundreds of thousands of rape kits are sitting untested in law enforcement facilities around the country due to the lack of resources and funding. “Shelved” lays out in 60 seconds the far-reaching impacts of this backlog.
One Love Foundation Partnership Highlights Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
This Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Joyful Heart Foundation and One Love Foundation are partnering to share information about healthy and unhealthy relationships. We will provide tips to help adults talk to young people about relationship violence, resources for you or a friend who may be in an abusive relationship, tools to support a survivor, and ways to get involved in stopping and preventing teen dating violence.
2017 In Review: Thank You For Sharing Our Joyful Journey
Hope. Joy. Possibility. We were founded on these values and in 2017, they are at the heart of everything we do.
The volume on the conversation about sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse is up and getting louder every day as all eyes, ears, and hearts are turned toward these issues. The collective voices of survivors are powerful, strong, and undeniable. We are surrounded by meaningful change. And we aren’t going back.
It’s been an extraordinary year for our work at Joyful Heart.
A Call to Men: #IWILLSPEAKUP
Every day, a new story about sexual assault, abuse, and harassment emerges. We are witnessing survivors coming forward to share their personal stories in a way we have not seen before. Celebrities, our friends, our sisters, our daughters, and ourselves—are speaking out about these experiences. From the simple yet powerful #MeToo to women’s detailed personal accounts in news stories and op-eds, this violence is at the forefront of our attention. The volume of the conversation is way up, getting louder, and showing no sign of stopping. It is inescapable.