Reunion Online

The season premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is fast approaching and many are waiting in anticipation to find out what happens to Detective Olivia Benson. For some, witnessing the ordeal she endures could be painful, as it can be an all too-real depiction of a personal experience.

Recent news headlines this summer have been full of harrowing cases of sexual assault and domestic violence, reminding us that there is so much yet to be done. Help us turn headlines into action.

This month, both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate advanced spending bills that include $117 million in grants that would help states and local governments to test backlogged DNA samples. We must tell our representatives to make this funding a priority.

After several days of debate, the Senate voted on Tuesday to reauthorize and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in a 78 to 22 vote. The reauthorization includes protections for LGBT and Native American survivors. It also include the SAFER Act, which provides state and local governments with funding to audit the untested rape kits in their facilities and creates a national registry to help track those audits. It also amends current law to require a greater percentage of federal grant money be spent directly on analyzing untested rape kits. Next, VAWA will head to the House.