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Special Victim Unit Essay

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Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, commonly known as Law & Order: SVU, is an American crime and legal television drama set in New York City. Many episodes are loosely based on real crimes that have received significant amounts of media attention. In the 6th episode of season 17, entitled “Patrimonial Burden,” a religious reality TV family’s reputation is ruined by a teen pregnancy scandal. This episode was a take on the Duggar incident wherein reports of their oldest son Josh, revealed that as a teenager, he molested five underage girls, including two of his sisters. The episode begins at the virtue ball of thirteen year old Lane Baker as she promises to refrain from all sexual activity until she is married. During the reception, she …show more content…

Unfortunately that is rare in real life and the allusion to the Duggar family highlighted this as they attempted to minimize their son’s actions instead of defending his victims which include two of their other children. In addition, there are other storylines that depict the perpetrator as prominent members of the judicial system or other high class positions. The show covers crimes committed by a variety of people from different cultural backgrounds and distinguishes the deliverance of justice according to social class. Law & Order: SVU exposes its audience to an indirect learning experience about societal values. By witnessing the rules and roles of society on television, the audience gathers an understanding of the detrimental impact stereotypes about race, gender, and religion can have, even in the legal system. SVU does not always end in justice for the victim and further represents the reality of the sexually based offences. However, the show strongly encourages victims to report sexual assaults by showing women and men who feel empowered after speaking out after their attacks. In addition to educating its audience, Law & Order: SVU offers support for real life victims and raises awareness for the estimated 17.7 million women and 2.78 million men that have been raped since

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