What is sure to be the performance of her career, Jennifer Love Hewitt is going to be guest starring on a very special Law and Order: Special Victims Unit next Wednesday September 29, 2010 where the important issue being highlighted this time will be the rape kit backlogs here in the United States. Can you imagine going through one of the most horrifying moments of your life, being sexually assaulted or raped by an unknown attacker and then having the bravery to go to the hospital to have a 4-6 hour invasive forensic medical examination rape kit done where your body is swabbed, plucked, and scrapped to collect evidence. Then imagine that evidence box that holds the DNA that could possibly catch that unknown assailant is sealed, locked up, untested, and stored away somewhere in a police station or crime lab storage facility for years. Years! Imagine how you could ever feel safe again. Thousands of these stories reflect the true life tragedies that a victim must re-endure when a rape kit goes untested.
There are so many issues surrounding why there are so many kits that are untested. CBS once reported over 20,000 nationwide. One issue that is causing this staggering number is that it might cost $1 million dollars to hire new testing staff to test the backlogged kits. Raising these funds might possibly lower the number of re-victimized victims down to about 2,000 kits it is said but as we know, even one untested kit is too many. There is some good news, however. New York State has done away with their backlogs and every single rape kit is tested now. Once that happened, the rape conviction rate changed from 40% to 70%! Whatever the probelem may be, wheather it be lack of funding or staff in crime labs, the real problem is that it’s unacceptable consciously letting potentially dangerous perpetrators walk and this problem needs to be eradicated everywhere. It’s not a hopeless fight. If New York can do it, one of the cities with the highest crime rates in the country, the rest of the country can surely follow.
Law and Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay, the founder of The Joyful Heart Foundation, in collaboration with Sarah Tofte, a researcher from the Human Rights Watch and her involvement as The Joyful Heart Foundation’s Director of Advocacy, have joined forces in their promotion before this special episode airs and will continue to join efforts in the foundation to shed light to other issues surrounding sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and rape. (In fact, they will be on the NBC Today Show at 8am on Tuesday September 28.) Hopefully when this episode is viewed, people will not turn away from the horror that is being presented but rather turn that into a energy that is positive, good, and productive and assist and be advocates like Mariska, Sarah, myself, and perhaps you, to help end this problem. Anyone can be an advocate and you don’t have to be a celebrity to make a change. Many people via social networking sites are coming together after the recent promotion and the sneak peaks of next week’s episodes. There is even a Twitter trend, #endthebacklog that has been started. When done right, social networking can be an amazingly powerful, technological tool in raising awareness.
Speaking of social networkers, I have to give credit to Jess, who runs www.mariska-online.com. Her site is the best site to go to for Mariska Hargitay news. The site is always updated and she is constantly on the ball. I’ve been getting a lot of my information from her site especially as updated news comes in about this issue. Other Law and Order: SVU information can be found at www.nbc.com as well as other of your favorite NBC shows. In fact, Mariska Hargitay recently posted on NBC’s production blog about this episode and the issue surrounding it and probably more well versed then I could for which you can read here. Neal Baer, the executive producer for Law and Order: SVU has a Twitter account for which he constantly keeps us, the fans, in the loop with sneak peeks, articles, and replies and we could not love him more for that. (www.Twitter.com/NealBaer) Mariska Hargitay’s direct website is www.Mariska.com where she indeed blogs herself and has guest blogs. She also has many links on her site including a number of free resources for victims, and a link to her great non-profit foundation, The Joyful Heart Foundation www.JoyfulHeartFoundation.org as well as their twitter account (www.Twitter.com/TheJHF)
This is a clip of Mariska Hargitay singing the praises of Jennifer Love Hewitt's work on the episode and explains the backlog issue.
Below is a clip preview from next week’s episode.
What Powerful emotion. Tell me that does not make you want to watch more?
I promise I will blog once again about the usual happy stuff but I’ll probably blog about this topic once the episode airs again. It’s a blog, what do you expect, I bounce all over the place. Haha. Blogger's ADD. Soon I’ll post some fun pictures from my birthday on Broadway, but if you know me, when I get on a soapbox, I just have to say something.
If you feel the same way I do, say something. Band together! It does not have to be like this. We can all be an advocate and make a change for the better. We cannot eliminate crime completely, but we can reduce the number of re-victimized survivors of these crimes. And that is the important thing to remember, they are survivors, with a journey, a voice, a story to be heard, and a life of not living in fear that justice will not be served in their favor.
Katie!
ReplyDeleteWow. I love reading your blog and this one especially. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see everyone coming together for this cause and to hopefully eradicate the backlog. Its something that is clearly close to Mariska's heart and to ours too. Mariska I'm sure is SO proud of how her fans are taking action and doing everything we can to make this goal possible.
You are very talented and passionate about this! Its obvious in your writing and its something that will draw the readers in that maybe aren't aware of these issues. It'll make them want to read more because of the emotions in this blog.
"If you feel the same way I do, say something. Band together! It does not have to be like this. We can all be an advocate and make a change for the better. We cannot eliminate crime completely, but we can reduce the number of re-victimized survivors of these crimes. And that is the important thing to remember, they are survivors, with a journey, a voice, a story to be heard, and a life of not living in fear that justice will not be served in their favor."
I agree 100% with this. Whether you are a victim or not WE can all work together to stop this. There shouldn't even be a backlog on rape kits but unfortunately there is and we need to do something. We need to let police know that its NOT okay for these kits to go untested for months, years, decades even. By testing rape kits it can save someones life. By not testing them, someone else is in danger. There will be a lot less rapes if these kits are tested and therefore crime rates will go down.
I think Wednesdays episode will open a lot of eyes to this epidemic, its already getting a lot of attention which is a step in the right direction.
After the episode airs I hope we can get the tag #endthebacklog to trend. SVU was a trending topic last week so hopefully those same people will be tweeting #endthebacklog. Lets get the word out to make sure everyone tweets!
Keep up the great work! I will keep checking back & looking forward to your blogs!
Also, thanks for the shout out for my site. That was very, very nice of you! Thank you!!
-Jess
I thank you so so very much for your interest and your response. It means a lot to me. And your wonderful words on my supposed knack for writing were very kind indeed! Lol. I do love to write.
ReplyDeleteBeing a victims advocate at a Crime Center and being aware of the horrible brutal sexual attacks that happen in the world, it has always been an interest of mine to stand up for victims rights. Always a flame of passion may also burn for my mother is also a victim of sexual assault and whom I love more than anyone in this world.
I do not know how many readers I have. Judging by the lack of comments on my previous posts, probably not many, but I could be wrong. Nevertheless I hope to acquire more. I have posted this entry here, twittered it and passed it on to you, and posted the link as my status on my facebook. Haha! Like I said, social networking can be a great tool.
There is a power in numbers. Because of this outrage, New York did away with their backlog! I mean what a great triumph! But to remember still it is one place in this great big country of ours is still overwhelming. Even one kit untested is too much and an injustice.
I know what I have written in my blog is a lot of information from what has been reiterated in interviews and other news sources, but I’m glad that it has still sparked interest and has still caught some attention. With tools like these, twitter trends, blogs, email forwards, fundraisers, It’s exactly the thing that expresses each person’s individual passion and at the same time brings everyone together to raise that awareness anywhere and anyway we can. We are brought together with a common passion for a cause that obviously touches our heart in a way our heart’s can’t explain but to only do and to act and speak in a way our minds can.
Nothing is impossible.
Thanks again. Keep reading.
~Katie
oxox
I too have always been interested in sexual assault even before Mariska/SVU but not really knowing how to get involved. Everything Mariska has done just this past year has inspired me to do something, even if its only in my little community. We can make a difference and every little bit helps.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things that drew me in as a fan of SVU was not the character of Olivia Benson but how she was portrayed and the emotions Mariska brought to the character. I was drawn to the actress and I could feel the intensity and strong emotions being played by Mariska. When I was first thinking about making a fan site for her, what ultimately made me decide to do it was everything she has done with Joyful Heart and being a victims advocate. She's truly one of a kind who puts her whole heart & soul into the causes that mean a lot to her.
I agree! Social networking can do wonders & is great for getting the word out there. New York did away with their backlog which is a step in the right direction. Little by little hopefully more and more states start eliminating the backlogs. After this episode airs it will reach a new audience and bring awareness to them saying this is not okay and will hopefully encourage them to take action whether it be networking, word of mouth, etc.
Keep blogging & getting the word out :)
You bet sister! Doing what I can!
ReplyDeleteYou can see it in the way Mariska speaks and the way she explains her work and what inspires her and the stories that touches her heart. Her soul radiates and shines through till she she is even welled up with tears and that is when she is most beautiful. When you see her soul and the love for what she does and the heart from where it comes from.
I look into the fresh eyes of my younger cousins, my god-daughter, my neighbors children, the children in the next town and remember that we have a responsibility to pass the torch to their hands when they have learned. We cannot change everything and the world will never be perfect, but we can teach them how they to make the world a safer, more just, and peaceful place to live and raise their children.