Dodgers manager; 'Law and Order' actress speak out on domestic violence

Famed baseball manager Joe Torre and actress Mariska Hargitay joined President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House on Wednesday to speak out about domestic abuse.

Obama thanked the celebrities for helping him to mark National Domestic Abuse Awareness month.

"Nobody in America should live in fear because they are unsafe in their own home," Obama said.

Biden, who led the fight for the Violence Against Women Act when he was in the Senate, said the law is "the single most significant thing I've ever been a part of. And that's a fact."

Torre, speaking in the East Room before Biden and Obama, told a moving tale of his father's abuse of his mother, and his efforts through the Safe at Home

The former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees said that it was "very, very special and very personal to me" to appear at the White House to speak on the issue.

"Hopefully we can make a very positive impact," said Torre, the founder of the Safe at Home Foundation.

Hargitay said she was "in awe of Joe's courage," praising the baseball hero for speaking out.

The star of "Law and Order: SVU" asked the media to increase awareness about domestic violence, which the actress said "thrives in the darkness of ignorance, of shame and of fear."

Hargitay, who founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, praised the "enlightened leadership" of Obama and Biden for increasing awareness of the issue.

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