Reunion Online

How can any of us ever forget the images of trauma and pain that the media carried to us from Newtown, Connecticut last holiday season? We coped and mourned, wondered how a person survives this type of loss. We struggled to understand. We held our children ever-closer. For some, we felt a mix of gratitude to be safely with our families and stinging guilt that we were okay when others were is such deep, abiding pain.

As we pause to share our gratitude at this time of Thanksgiving, we want to thank you for supporting our work. Today, with our deepest and heartfelt gratitude, we are proud to share our report on the Joyful Heart Foundation’s 2012 – 2013 accomplishments.

We're proud to share the new www.ENDTHEBACKLOG.org, our website dedicated to shining a light on and ending the rape kit backlog—hundreds of thousands of rape kits collected in the aftermath of a sexual assault, sitting untested in police and crime lab storage facilities.

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.

Today, with great excitement, gratitude and pride, we reveal an unprecedented PSA campaign for NO MORE. Directed by Joyful Heart's Founder & President, Mariska Hargitay, our cast includes more than 40 celebrities and public figures who have joined the campaign—added their voices—to say NO MORE to domestic violence and sexual assault.

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.

When we interact with our environment, it can awaken memories of a past experience—your own or a loved one’s—that can affect us in the moment. Here are some resources that can support you at this time and in your broader healing process.