It's like she stepped off of my TV and into my real life to continue kicking ass in the real world, along with other heroes and advocates for rape victims.
Who doesn't love them some Olivia Benson? But did you know that the actress who portrays her, Mariska Hargitay, got so many letters from sexual abuse victims that she founded an organization to help them heal? And as a part of that work, she is involved with the community of advocates and activists who help change laws and attitudes toward sexual abuse in real life.
So when Manhattan's district attorney announced at the end of 2014 that he would allocate up to $35 MILLION in funding to help get through the backlog of rape kits that have never been tested, Mariska took to the stage to applaud that and, hopefully, inspire other jurisdictions to do the same.
And if you think that's good news, just wait 'til you see this doozy just announced Feb. 2, 2015:
Today, Pres @BarackObama included $41M to address the rape kit backlog in his FY16 budget. More here: http://t.co/M2cUZjqpzI #ENDTHEBACKLOG
— ENDTHEBACKLOG.org (@ENDTHEBACKLOG) February 2, 2015 Original video available here. See the Manhattan district attorney's press release for more details on the rape backlog prioritization. And support Mariska's organization, Joyful Heart Foundation. They are really doing important work. Tweet from End the Backlog, which also deserves a follow and a round of applause!
Thumbnail image by Flickr user LoriQoPB , used under a Creative Commons license.
from Upworthy http://ift.tt/1zmKjFN
via IFTTThttp://ift.tt/eA8V8J
0 comments:
Post a Comment