Winning Emmy's & Taking Names

Huzzah!  Once again, SVU triumphs, only this time in REAL LIFE!  Check it out.

As awful things go, few things trump the fact that thousands of rape kits never go tested.  Can you imagine surviving a rape, having the courage to report it right after the fact without even showering before you go to the hospital, and then going through the further torturous, prodding, multi-hour process of a rape kit... and then it never even gets tested?  How can law enforcement sleep at night?!  Benson and Stabler would never allow this.

In light of the rape kit backlog, it seems fair to ask: Why should we put women through hours of an invasive procedure if we don't follow through and test their kits? The last thing anyone wants is for news of the rape kit backlog to discourage women from coming forward to have a rape kit collected.

And while testing rape kits is important to advance investigations, it also sends an important message: It shows victims that their cases -- and their pain and their anguish -- matter.

Fortunately, the doing-good-in-real-life team at SVU, Executive Producer Neal Baer and the divine Mariska Hargitay (who also runs Joyful Heart, an amazing organization that helps survivors of domestic abuse), is beginning a campaign to help solve this.  Now that's using your influence for good.