George Stephanopoulos’ daughters are lending some of their vacation time to a good cause.
Over the weekend, the Good Morning America anchor’s daughters with wife Ali Wentworth joined their mom for the Joyful Heart Foundation’s 6th Annual Beach Walk, an event hosted by the organization’s founder Mariska Hargitay.
The former Clinton White House Communications Director and the Ali’s Well That Ends Well author, who have been married since 2001, are parents to daughters Elliott, 22, and Harper, 20.
On Monday, Ali took to Instagram and shared photos of the annual event, which intends to spread awareness about the backlog of all untested rape kits and support victims of sexual assault.
She first shared a photo featuring herself and her longtime best friend Mariska, who founded The Joyful Heart in 2004, followed by a shot of the group on their walk.
Ali then included a photo of her two daughters, who are home for the summer. Elliott recently celebrated her graduation from Brown University, while Harper is a rising junior at Vanderbilt University, which her dad’s co-anchor Lara Spencer’s daughter Katharine also attends.
© InstagramThe last photos featured the girls plus more of Ali and Mariska’s friends who attended, including CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell and designer Stella McCartney.Â
“It was a joyful walk to raise money and awareness for the @thejhf,” Ali wrote in her caption, adding: “We WILL #endthebacklog of all untested rape kits and scaffold and support victims and change policy surrounding all of this.”
© InstagramFans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post and praise it, with one writing: “Such great pictures, what a great cause,” as others followed suit with: “Thank you for raising money for such a great cause,” as well as: “Love this!”
Last year, Mariska opened up about her own experience with sexual assault in an essay for People celebrating her 25th year of her starring as the beloved Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU which in part inspired her founding The Joyful Heart.
© Instagram“A man raped me in my thirties,” she first revealed, adding: “It wasn’t sexual at all. It was dominance and control. Overpowering control.”
“He was a friend. Then he wasn’t. I tried all the ways I knew to get out of it. I tried to make jokes, to be charming, to set a boundary, to reason, to say no. He grabbed me by the arms and held me down. I was terrified,” she then recalled. “I didn’t want it to escalate to violence. I now know it was already sexual violence, but I was afraid he would become physically violent. I went into freeze mode, a common trauma response when there is no option to escape. I checked out of my body.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you are not alone. Help is available 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or visit the Online Hotline, y en español a rainn.org/es.
