At Variety’s Power of Women Luncheon in New York, actress and honoree Blake Lively made a point to talk about the things that she feels matter most.
The Luncheon chose to honor Lively for her advocacy against child pornography and her work with the Child Rescue Coalition, which uses IP addresses to identify sexual predators who are trading child pornography via the internet. Other women honored at the Luncheon included Jessica Chastain and Gayle King.
Despite the fact that Lively was being honored for her work to benefit children’s safety, a reporter on the red carpet asked Lively who she was wearing. Lively, who believed that the question was irrelevant to the social change the Luncheon was recognizing, answered the reporter’s question with a question of her own: “Are we really doing this? Would you ask a man that?” She explained that the reason so many people were gathering at the event was so that they and the people they reach can “become more aware, and that we change, and that we build women up. So, you can ask me another question.”
From the video of her talking to the reporter, Lively’s response doesn’t seem aggressive at all, as some reports of the incident have suggested. It seems that she genuinely wanted the reporter to understand that the women at the Luncheon are doing incredible work, and since the Luncheon focuses on honoring them and their work, the conversations they have with reporters should reflect that intention.
Speaking of incredible work, Lively’s efforts to protect children from the consumers of child pornography and potential abuse are extensive and well worth the praise they have earned. Lively originally learned about the Child Rescue Coalition at an event sponsored by L’Oreal and, as a mother of two, was inspired to work alongside the nonprofit. The founder of the nonprofit, Carly Asher Yoost, said, “[Lively] really wanted to help. She got us a technology summit at Facebook.”
Lively’s support of the nonprofit has brought a lot of attention to the work that the organization is doing, giving others the chance to learn about the widespread problem that child pornography poses. During her speech at the Luncheon, Lively said, “Unspeakable things have happened, but I’m going to speak about them because if these kids are experiencing this, the least they deserve is for us to hear what is actually happening to them.” She explained why she would take it upon herself to share what she’s learned about the issue with the audience, saying, “I feel like it’s my responsibility to tell you guys because it is the truth, and I believe that if we all knew this we would all dedicate more of ourselves to stopping it […] I’m really sorry to share this with you, but I’m grateful that you guys are listening because this is actually happening and it’s important that we know this and it resonates with us.”
At this time, the Child Rescue Coalition has contributed to 9,062 arrests worldwide and has rescued 2,084 children from their abusers, according to the nonprofit. “If you proactively find these predators, you can save so many children,” Lively said to Variety.
So as stunning as Lively’s forest green jumpsuit was, it might be better to stick to talking about the life-saving work that she’s doing.
Featured Image by Zennie Abraham on Flickr
Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
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