Photo credit: Carly Maltzman
Video: Janet Donovan
It’s kinda fun watching some of our most accomplished hometown girls out of control – such was the case at the 20th Anniversary celebration of Knock Out Abuse, founded by Cheryl Masri and Jill Sorenson.
Jill Sorenson and Cheryl Masri
There hasn’t been this much excitement at KOA since ‘Fabio’ swooned over the ladies some years back while promoting ‘I can’t believe it’s not butter,’ or maybe it was the year that a bunch of shirtless men were up for auction. Either way, singer/heartthrob Eric Benet upped them all by getting close and personal with his most ardent admirers.
Eric Benet
The scene at The Ritz Carlton mimicked a 1920s speakeasy with flapper girls decked out in furs, beads, headbands and cigarette holders while sipping the bubbly. The Great Gatsby theme was a knock out and raised almost $600,000.
Guests were greeted with flowers, music and champagne which complimented the dining room decor of matching candelabras, chandeliers and stemware.
The event held a higher purpose though – promoting awareness of domestic violence and its impact on women and children of all ages, races and socioeconomic status.
Senator Kristen Gillibrand
Following the dinner, Hollywood on the Potomac had a chance to speak to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] who is well known for her passionate views and and zero tolerance policy for domestic abuse. Not only does Senator Gillibrand ‘believe keeping women and families safe is a top priority, she also believes that victims of abuse should be empowered to speak out and have access to the help and support they deserve.’
We wondered what it was like sitting next to a colleague in the Senate who does not understand what we’re talking about. What is it that men don’t get, especially on that level? “Well, men have different life experiences,” she said. “For example, on issues of sexual assault in the military, a colleague may not be able to imagine in their mind being brutally sexually assaulted. They actually may not be able to envision what that would feel like and how that would feel if your commander told you that it was your own fault. They might not be able to fully imagine that.
But, when you tell the story about a sexual assault through the eyes of not just the victim, but also the father; or you tell the story through the eyes of the victim’s husband, they begin to understand. And, one of the great things of advocacy that we have seen is that ESPN has covered sexual assault in the military – that is exactly what they chose to do. They told the survivor stories, but they told it through the testimony of one survivor’s father and one survivor’s husband and it made the narrative so powerful to their viewing audience.
Sometimes it is because we do come from different life experiences and they can’t always imagine the same things a woman can, but it doesn’t mean you can’t bring them into the debate by explaining and talking to them and finding that commonlity is frankly how you can talk to anybody about anything.”
We pointed out that many men are raped in the military and asked her for take on that. “More than half the victims are men,” she explained. “That’s why tonight I mentioned both a female victim and a male victim so that you can imagine what brutality looks like in both cases. It’s extremely disturbing, it’s extremely violent, it’s not about a date that’s gone badly. None of these rapes are about a romance, they’re all about dominance, power and violence. That’s something I have to educate my colleagues about so they really understand what the crime is about.
I think there’s an overarching societal challenge we have that starts with a lack of respect for women and if women don’t have a leadership role, women in Congress, don’t have them running companies, don’t have female role models on television that are strong and powerful, there’s a real challenge in terms of teaching the next generation that women are valuable. If you constantly have images that devalue women, it leads to long term problems of sexual assault, domestic violence, gender based violence.”
So, what would happen in a Congress that is 51 percent women we asked. “If we had 51 percent of women in Congress, we would not have any trouble passing the violence against women’s act, you don’t waste time debating access to contraception, and you certainly make sure that sexual assault in the military is ended. Those are the things you get done immediately because we have this common sense. It is something we know, we feel, we live and can emphasize with. It’s that emotional intelligence that makes women great legislators.”
Welcome to Knock Out Abuse
The Prelude:
The sponsor: FedEx
Gina Adams, FedEx
The Entertainment: Eric Benet and Girls gone WILD!
MC Andrea Roane – WUSA TV9/CBS – and auctioneer Wolf Blitzer, The Situation Room/CNN, couldn’t keep the crowd contained but they raised $31,000 for a lunch with Benet which we hear went to a group of seven. Benet has his hands full, but we think he can handle it. FedEx, represented by Gina Adams, was the evening’s primary sponsor.
Wolf Blitzer
The Auction: Girls gone WILD!
Fight Night:
While the ladies were busy flirting with Eric Benet, the men gathered at the Washington Hilton to watch boxing and hear a performance by John Legend. Photo credit: senior contributor Brendan Kownacki
Fight Night continues a long history of supporting low-income children to ensure they get an education. The program was founded in 1990 and has directly raised more than $100 million. This year’s event was attended by 1,600 supporters and raised more than $3 million.
