LOS ANGELES-Academy Award winner Halle Berry put her name behind helping battered women suffering from domestic violence. Every year, Berry’s name has become synonymous with the Jenesse Center, Inc., a South Los Angeles nonprofit organization that raises awareness about domestic violence.
Every year, Berry and Jenesse Center get together in collaboration to put on the annual Silver Rose Weekend, which is essentially a high-profile fundraiser for the organization. With Berry being the spokesperson for the Jenesse Center, the organization has reaped the benefits of having the glamorous actress to partner with.
With Berry, comes the package of other Hollywood stars stopping by to add their support to the cause of fighting against domestic violence. Some of Berry’s colleagues in the entertainment industry stopped by to attend the Jenesse Center’s Silver Rose Weekend gala recently to lend their presence to the cause.
“Temptation” star Jurnee Smollett Bell, Viola Davis (The Help), acclaimed singer Kem, Vanessa Bell Calloway (HawthoRNe), comedian Kym Whitley and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help), were just some of the celebrities to make their way to the Silver Rose gala in downtown Los Angeles. Berry was not in attendance at the function, but she herself witnessed domestic abuse as a child.
Though she was absent in body, Berry’s spirit was no doubt engaged in the yearly event set to create more awareness about domestic violence. Berry’s acting peers had no problem opening up about the domestic violence issue.
“Jenesse Center, the work that they do for the abused women and children, the homeless and domestic violence is very important,” said Calloway. “Who should have to live like that? Nobody should be living in a volatile situation. A lot of women don’t know they have to take it because they’re scared, they don’t have the money.
“They feel like they don’t have the means. Jenesse Center helps pick them up and show them so that you don’t have to do it, and we’re going to help you skip that so that you can get back in the world and take care of yourself and your children and you don’t have to back to an abusive situation. Anything we can do to help that, we should do it.”
Domestic violence is not limited to one gender experience. While most of the attention on domestic violence center around women being abused, the numbers of men being the victim are becoming more and more transparent to the public. Either way, domestic violence is a disease that has to be reckoned with. The numbers are staggering on both sides of the coin.
According to a 2010 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in five women has been raped, whereas 1 in 71 men have raped in their lifetime. The numbers continue astonish. One in six women has been stalked in their life. Men have a one in 19 victim stalking rate.
Here is where those statistics become more alarming.
One of every four women experience extreme physical violence from their intimate partner. The statistics for men suffering the same injuries are close enough to the numbers released on women that it is eye-popping. According to the CDC survey, one in seven men experience extreme physical violence from an intimate partner.
Here is where things get dicey when it comes to women and men reporting domestic violence. Eighty-on percent of women stalked, raped or physically abuse report the impact of those incidents. On the other hand, perhaps out of male machismo, pride and fear of ridicule, just 35 percent of men going through the same things, report the short and long-term impact suffered from those experiences.
“I’m a champion for organizations that are in the business of helping people become the best version of themselves,” said Kem. “I know a lot of people who have overcome a lot of things. The seed for overcoming is people reaching out and helping each other. So I can definitely identify with the process of being victorious.”
Whitley, who has a new docu-series (Raising Whitley) coming out on the OWN Network, is happy to be part of the work that Jenesse Center is doing in domestic violence intervention.
“Anything having to do with the Jenesse Center, I try to be around,” Whitley said. “I’ve watched this event grow from one small little thing to a huge event. I’m very proud of Karen (Earl), Halle and all the people that take part in this, especially celebrities that lend their face and their voice to this-because it does raise awareness to it.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com