this issue deserves attention

Hey y'all :)

I had a pretty awesome weekend that consisted of: attempting to catch up on sleep, Cheesecake Factory with work friends, drinks with more friends, cleaning the home top to bottom, and a lady date with Pro to see Eat, Pray, Love then dine at D Bar. {If you don't know what D Bar is...click here. And if you haven't read Eat, Pray, Love --- read it!}

The movie was, in my opinion, GREAT! I read the book by Elizabeth Gilbert about 3 or 4 years ago, so I have forgotten most of the details {my memory for books is AWFUL}, but I do remember the book's essence. The essence of self-discovery and allowing oneself to enjoy life without having to justify it. I loved this essence, and the movie captured it beautifully. At first, I was skeptical about Julia Roberts in this role. She is a wonderful actress, one that I enjoy watching immensely, but I wasn't sure if she could play the quiet lady laden with heartbroken baggage. In the end, her skills left me impressed, and I thought she portrayed her character as well as anyone else I could think of! 

That being said, after the movie, we went to D Bar for some delectable desserts, keeping that Italian zest for food and "joy of doing nothing" in mind (from the movie, of course). I think I could be Italian. 

Since getting home from our girlfriend date, I have been enjoying relaxing on the couch in our spotless home {thank goodness for visitors...or we'd NEVER clean, I swear! lol} catching up on my huge stack of magazines piled up on the coffee table.

In reading my September 2010 Marie Claire {Mary Kate Olsen graces the cover}, I came across an article that struck a cord within me. Written by Ralph Blumenthal, the article "The Dangerous Rise in Untested Rape Kits" illuminates a serious issue that I had never even thought about. Apparently, there are hundreds of thousands of rape kits in the US just sitting in store rooms waiting to be tested. Women have been waiting for 20+ years for the results of the rape kits. Some women's cases are closed before the kits are even tested. How is any of that okay??? 

The most sickening part of this all is that most rapists are serial rapists. Think about it. If a woman was raped in 1990 and her kit was never tested, how many more unlinked rapes has that perpetrator committed since that first one? All because the kit never got tested. 

The sad reality is that the Los Angeles Police Department has close to 20,000 rape kits waiting to be tested. They just don't have the manpower and resources to get through them in a timely manner. Recently, New York City unveiled a $300 million facility for DNA testing, and now the arrest rate for rapes is 70% --- over three times the national average. Kudos, NYPD! Also, the governor of Illinois recently signed a bill that makes it so that rape kits MUST be tested within 10 days of their retrieval. Double kudos! 

It is with my strongest hopes that more states follow suit and sign bills like Illinois has. Since when is ignoring DNA involved in a crime acceptable? It's not. If you want to read the whole article, here is the link:

http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/rise-in-untested-rape-kits

Please read it and spread the word about this issue. The government does respond to public outcries against issues like these, albeit admittedly not always in the timeliest of manners.

Thanks for reading my soapbox tonight :)

Cheers to change - and the power we have to make it happen...