I’m a Law & Order junkie. I’ll watch just about any episode of just about any one of the shows. The other night I was watching an episode of Law & Order Special Victims Unit.

If you’re not familiar with the show, all the stories center around sex crimes or crimes against children.

The show I was watching was called “Choice” and originally aired in 2003. Josie Bissett guest stars as a woman attacked by her husband. As the story line develops, it is revealed that her character is pregnant and is an alcoholic. The story line is wonderfully written and is very educational about fetal alcohol syndrome.

If you get a chance, watch the episode, even if you have no experience with fetal alcohol. It is educational, without being “preachy”.

I did some searching because I thought I remembered reading that Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson on the show, was an advocate for fetal alcohol children. I couldn’t confirm this, but I was so impressed with her personal website that I had to share it.

I don’t know whether her advocacy for sexual assault victims is because of her role on SVU, or there is some other reason, but she is very active in advocacy. On her website, there are several public service announcements that she recorded about sexual assault and child abuse.

One section of the website is for resources. There are links to websites about just about every kind of abuse issue you can imagine. It’s incredible. There are tips on reducing your chances of an assault, how to prevent child abuse, and much more. I could spend a full day going to all the links and resources located on her website.

Mariska has also started an organization called The Joyful Heart Foundation. The tagline is “Helping Survivors of Sexual Assault Heal – Mind, Body and Spirit”. One of the neat things they do, and something I’d love to do myself, is human and dolphin therapy. It allows abuse survivors to swim with dolphins are part of their therapy.

I loved Mariska as an actress before I learned all this. My admiration has grown. I encourage you to check out these sites and organizations. I’d be willing to be you’ll find something of interest to you on there.

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