Joyful Heart in the News

Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay had a sort of revelation while visiting Hawaii, and since then has been dedicated to helping abuse victims.

America knows her as the award-winning actress and star of the hit show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, Mariska Hargitay plays a much bigger role.

She’s the founder and president of the Joyful Heart Foundation, whose mission is to heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse and to shed light into the darkness that surrounds these issues.

The organization was created in 2004 and offers programs in New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii.

“When I started on Law & Order: SVU 12 years ago, sexual assault had never played a significant role in my life, certainly not on a daily basis, and certainly not the kinds of issues that the show addresses,” says Hargitay. “I did research for the show and I learned the statistics: One in three women will be physically or sexually abused in her lifetime. One in three.

“But it actually wasn’t just the facts and scripts that moved me, it was the letters I was getting. I had done other work on TV before SVU, and I’d gotten letters like, ‘Hi, my name is Amy. I’m 16 years old. I love your show, could you send me an autographed picture? Thanks.’

“Now I was getting, ‘Hi, my name is Amy. I’m 16 years old. My father has been raping me since I was 12, and I have never told anyone.‘I remember my breath going out of me when the first letter came, and I’ve gotten thousands like it since then.”

Hargitay, who experienced her own heart awakening during a visit to Hawaii, will be on Oahu for a private Me&Ro jewelry event at Neiman Marcus next month. On Law & Order, Hargitay wears a Me&Ro necklace known as the Fearlessness pendant and a Me&Ro necklace of the lotus.

“The meaning behind the lotus is that the beginnings of the lotus are in the mud; the stem grows up through the water, and the flower lies above the water, basking in the sunlight,” says Hargitay. “This pattern of growth signifies the progress of the soul through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment.”

Me&Ro also has a trunk show Sept. 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. and Sept. 2 to 4 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Neiman Marcus featuring its latest limited edition pieces and special collection, including a new Heart & Wing pendant and Fearlessness bracelet, with 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of her jewelry going to the Joyful Heart Foundation.

While in Hawaii, Hargitay also plans to meet with the Joyful Heart Foundation’s Hawaii Advisory Committee, participants of its programs and advocates.

“One exciting initiative I am very proud of is our partnership with the Hawaii Community Foundation and the Hawaii Children’s Trust Fund,” says Hargitay. “We have been working on a research project to look at attitudes and perceptions of Hawaii residents about child abuse and neglect, and our goal is to raise awareness and keep our children safe.”

According to Lisa Denning, Hawaii program manager for Joyful Heart, one in four women in Hawaii has been the victim of sexual assault.

She also notes that in Hawaii, in 2008, more than 4,600 cases of child abuse or neglect were reported. And while on average more than 500 victims seek support from local domestic violence shelters each day, 41 percent of shelters report having inadequate resources or funding to meet these needs.

In the last six years, the Joyful Heart Foundation has directly served more than 1,600 women locally and invested more than $2 million in local programming.

“In Hawaii we offer a variety of retreats with a focus on the model of healing and wellness for mind, body and spirit,” says Denning. “We have three-day retreat programs, community wellness days, which is a oneday retreat program, and a program called Hoomana, which is a continuous program focused on empowerment, and we meet every other week in Kona.”

Participants are referred to the Joyful Heart Foundation by various local crisis organizations with which they are partnered, such as the YWCA, the Sex Abuse Treatment Center and private therapists.

“At Joyful Heart, we seek to help expand, enhance, support and affirm existing programs and services in Hawaii,” notes Maile Zambuto, Joyful Heart Foundation executive director, who is a survivor of sexual assault herself with the abuse starting at age 5 at a private school in Honolulu.

“Our firmly held belief in coalition building comes from an understanding that we are stronger together, weaker apart. Our interest is to not duplicate what is already being done, but to support and affirm existing programs.”

For more information, visit joyfulheartfoundation.org. For more information on the Hawaii programs, call 808-331-8000.