Last year, KaDee Strickland, who plays Dr. Charlotte King on ABC’s Private Practice, found herself preparing to portray a rape victim. On the show, Dr. King was raped in her office, at her hospital–a storyline that continued throughout the season.

Researching the role, playing the victim and later hearing the overwhelming feedback from survivors has inspired Strickland to help raise awareness of sexual violence. Part of her efforts include supporting a bill that would use technology to update an antiquated system of processing rape kits. Ultimately, it would eliminate the appalling backlog of crucial DNA evidence sitting in crime labs and storage facilities across the country.

In support of the SAFER (Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry) Act, which was introduced to the House of Representatives this spring, Strickland has worked with Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) and has several visited members of Congress.

I recently talked to Strickland, who said the anecdotes she’s heard about the backlog are astonishing. “When you hear stories of dusty kits, that seems like something out of a movie,” she said, “but it is real.”

• Click here to read Monday’s Q&A with RAINN president and founder Scott Berkowitz, who explains the digital registry that would be created by the SAFER Act.
• Click here for a Q&A with wrestler and RAINN online hotline volunteer and wrestler Mick Foley.

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ABC is the third network (following The CW and Fox) to unveil its detailed premiere plan for the fall TV season, and it features five “supersized” openers, including a double dose of Grey’s Anatomy and hour-long helpings of both The Middle (as we first reported) and Modern Family.

Remember, Cougar Town arrives midseason (now airing Tuesday at 9/8c, after the fall cycle of DWTS). Also on hold for later premieres are Shark Tank and the brand-new series Apartment 23 (to air Tuesdays after Cougar Town), Good Christian Belles, Missing, The River, Scandal (from Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes) and Work It. All told, the Alphabet network’s fall game plan looks like this

Friday, September 16
10 pm 20/20

Monday, September 19
8 pm Dancing with the Stars
10 pm Castle

Tuesday, September 20
9 pm Dancing with the Stars Results Show
10 pm Body of Proof

Wednesday, September 21
8 pm The Middle (one-hour premiere)
9 pm Modern Family (one-hour premiere)
10 pm Revenge [new series]

Thursday, September 22
8 pm Charlie’s Angels [new series]
9 pm Grey’s Anatomy (two-hour premiere)

Sunday, September 25
7 pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (two-hour premiere, then one hour for the following three Sundays)
9 pm Desperate Housewives
10 pm Pan Am [new series]

Wednesday, September 28
8:30 pm Suburgatory [new series]
9:30 pm Happy Endings

Thursday, September 29
10 pm Private Practice

Sunday, October 2
7 pm America’s Funniest Home Videos

Tuesday, October 11
8 pm Last Man Standing (one-hour premiere) [new series]

Tuesday, October 18
8:30 pm Man Up! [new series]

Friday, October 21
8 pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Friday time period premiere; always two hours)

Sunday, October 23
8 pm Once Upon a Time [new series]

SOURCE: TV Line