Mariska Hargitay Comes to the Rescue of Unprocessed Rape Kits
When Mariska Hargitay identifies you as the perp of the week, you better lace up your Nikes and gets tah runnin’. The woman is a pro at baggin’ baddies and making sure justice prevails. I mean, come on — she’s been doing it for fourteen drama-drenched seasons on Law & Order: SVU!
Which might be part of the reason why Hargitay is a champion for crime victims (particularly of abuse) off-screen, too. In 2004, she established the Joyful Heart Foundation, which provides support to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. In 2012, Hargitay campaigned for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which was successfully extended by President Obama earlier this year. Now, the ying to Chris Meloni’s yang is working to get law enforcement agencies to brush the dust off of a major national backlog of untested rape kits.
In a column for The Huffington Post, Hargitay (whose character, Olivia, on SVU was a product of rape) wrote about the problems sexual assault victims face with crime lab processing (or lack thereof).
Word on the street is that Hargitay has recently been meeting with directors and producers in hopes of shooting a documentary on the subject of neglected rape kits in the next few months as well.
Watch out, lazy crime labs. Hell hath no fury like Detective Olivia Benson scorned.
Featured image via Shutterstock
