Reunion Online

Advocates, legislators and law enforcement discuss current rape kit testing laws and what, if anything, should be done to change them.

When 11 corpses were discovered in and around the Cleveland home of Anthony Sowell in the fall of 2009, there were some 4,000 untested rape kits being neglected by local cops. The deranged rapist and murderer was stopped, but his case exposed the stunning mishandling of missing persons and sexual assault cases in the city,  a problem advocates argue has festered nationwide as the war on drugs has sucked up public safety dollars that might otherwise have gone toward putting rapists and killers behind bars.

Bloomberg Tradebook’s fourth annual Charity Day took place on November 4, and this year it was bigger and more global than ever.

Two weeks ago on Oct. 1, Jake Comito gathered about 60 blue 3-by-2-foot poster boards with “NO MORE” printed at the top to Quad Circle on Livingston campus, where students were walking through and asked what the boards were all about.

The Rutgers Business School junior and resident assistant would then explain that he and a few close friends have taken the initiative to align with the Joyful Heart Foundation’s campaign against sexual violence and domestic abuse, "NO MORE."

Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich has become used to discussing deeply personal subjects, be it his own cancer or discovering that his wife, Danielle, had experienced domestic violence. Last week, Herzlich was one of four NFL players featured in a new series of ads from Joyful Heart and No More, the umbrella organization raising awareness about domestic violence.

Most of us know Mariska Hargitay for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on the long-running television hit, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” But what went on behind the scenes may come as a surprise.

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Detroiter Ardelia Ali was only 18 when she encountered the worst kind of sexual violence and trauma any woman could undergo. After the end of a day’s shift at Burger King, she was walking to catch a bus near Hoyt and Seven Mile on the evening of Nov. 18, 1995, when she felt a knife on her back. Forced to a nearby vacant land, she was raped.

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Though she hasn’t personally experienced domestic violence, in her iconic role as Detective Olivia Benson on the long-running TV drama, Law & Order: SVU, Mariska Hargitay has lived, breathed — and solved — unspeakable crimes against women and children for the past 16 years. Her role has clearly gotten under her skin. In 2004, she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national organization that has served more than 14,000 survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and the professionals who help them.

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Oh, it’s on! The New York Giants take on the Dallas Cowboys today in what will surely be an interesting showdown. With first place in the NFC East division on the line, the Giants are looking to even their 2015 series against their biggest rivals and bounce back from a dismal performance in Philadelphia Monday night. 

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – During Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants joined with longtime partner My Sisters’ Place and the Joyful Heart Foundation, founded by actress, producer, director and advocate Mariska Hargitay, to honor Domestic Violence Awareness Month.