Enlightened stars and disturbing stories.

https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/jane-fonda-gets-personal-rape-foundation-brunch-230831727.html

It was a star-studded event.  Kevin and Claudia invited us, and when we got to the house in Beverly Hills, we were escorted along with 999 other people through a huge backyard that resembled Versailles.

A sit-down lunch for 1,000 … hard to believe.

Stories of young women who were sexually assaulted — even harder to hear.

Jane Fonda revealed how her mother committed suicide when Jane was 12, and years later, she figured out that her mother had been sexually molested when she was young and her mother’s despair suddenly made sense.

Eric McCormack was at our table, and I got to tell him “I’m a big fan” and then he became auctioneer to raise money for The Stuart House, a place that helps children and older victims to get help all in one place.

I wrote Kevin and Claudia a note to thank them for inviting us to join their table.  Just as I put the stationery into my typewriter, the news came on.  “Star-studded event brings out stars for Rape Treatment Center.”   I have never been to an event in the morning and seen it on the news three hours later.  It was head-turning stuff — the stories of courage in the face of hideous assault — and I hastened to thank our hosts for including us in all of it.

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It takes extraordinary courage for sexually abused children to reach out for help. They merit extraordinary support. Stuart House is an internationally recognized, model program created by the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center to serve the special needs of sexually abused children. In a child-friendly setting, Stuart House brings together a multiagency team (police, prosecutors, and other child protection personnel) to expedite investigations and child protection actions. Stuart House also provides 24-hour emergency medical care, state-of-the-art forensic services, comprehensive therapy, advocacy and other support services that help children heal from the traumatic effects of sexual abuse. All of these services are free to child victims and their families.

Learn More at:http://www.therapefoundation.org