We all know Mariska Hargitay for her role as Olivia Benson in the long-running hit TV drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” But did you know that the successful actress and daughter of the late Jayne Mansfield and bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay is busy off-screen fighting against sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse?
Using her platform “to do something meaningful,” she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, a support organization for survivors of these crimes inflicted on women. Since 2010, her foundation has sent thousands of women and children to therapeutic programs in New York, Los Angeles, and Hawaii.