She also encouraged the private sector to contribute to the U.N. Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, which provides grants for programs in the developing world to help fight the scourge.

In January, the U.N. Foundation said it would donate $1 to the fund for each of the first 100,000 signatures and Wirth said he was happy to pay up. Sandler said progress has been made: 89 countries have laws on domestic violence, more than 100 have made rape a crime, 90 have provisions against sexual harassment, and 93 on human trafficking.

In the photograph: Nicole Kidman at the Oscars 2007.

Photograph: Getty Images