Mariska Hargitay's role on Law & Order: SVU (Special Victim's Unit) has had a big impact, but not just for entertainment's sake. Mariska's role as Olivia Benson has actually had huge impacts on rape survivors in the real world, as well. Mariska recently told People magazine about how survivors started reaching out to her to share their traumatic experiences and how she realized that what she was doing was so much more than playing a part on a TV show. It led her to become an advocate for rape survivors.
“So many of them said, ‘I’ve never told anyone this before,'" she shared. Mariska, 56, told People in its "Women Changing the World" issue about how strongly she feels about playing this character and how it's really changed her life. “Having the character, Olivia Benson, listen — that was so powerful,” she says. “People used to call me the accidental activist. I didn’t take this job on SVU to do this work. But I think I was meant to do this.”
Mariska didn't take the fan outreach lightly. In fact, it had a huge impact on her, so much that it changed the course of the rest of her life. She embarked on an entirely new career path, training as a rape crisis counselor. Talk about life imitating art.
While that alone would've been admirable, she didn't stop there. In 2004, Mariska started her own nonprofit organization, which she calls the Joyful Heart Foundation. The organization's goal is to support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. While it's certainly a huge pivot for Mariska, it's the work she feels completely compelled to do.
It's clear that her role as Olivia opened her eyes and inspired her. So when she learned about the number of untested rape kits in America in 2009, that became a hugely important issue related to the work she was already so immersed in. That's when she prioritized the foundation’s End the Backlog initiative. “I couldn’t believe that this could happen,” she told People. “This is a crystal clear microcosm of what is wrong with our society.”
It's so interesting how much of the work she's doing in real life mirrors the work her character does on the show. But what's truly remarkable is that she likely wouldn't have been quite so drawn to it without playing the character in the first place. It's the perfect scenario for passion meeting opportunity.
Mariska then teamed up with a Michigan prosecutor and rape activist by the name of Kym Worthy. They put their heads together to fight for justice. “I met Kym and said, ‘Listen to me, I’m your soldier. You tell me what you need. How can we do this?’ ” Mariska recalled. “And we just joined forces.”
Join forces they did! Together they documented the process of four women in Cleveland, Detroit, and Los Angeles having their kits tested after years of being ignored. That project won an Emmy in 2018. The HBO documentary is called I Am Evidence. What an incredible way to help the greater public understand these issues.
“That’s all these women need is to be believed,” says Mariska. The actress and activist has also testified twice in front of Congress about the backlog issue. “They need to be respected and seen and heard, and have somebody go, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And that person needs to be held accountable.”
After all her years playing Olivia, it makes sense that Mariska wants people to be held accountable. But it's incredible what she's actually done to make sure that happens.
The Joyful Heart Foundation’s End the Backlog initiative has identified more than 225,000 untested rape kits sitting in police offices, crime labs, or other storage facilities across the United States, which on its own, is a tremendous contribution. But it has also helped establish legislation supporting rape kit reform in 41 states, too. Congress has approved $131 million for the Sexual Assault Kit initiative. “Eradicating the rape kit backlog is no longer if, it’s when now,” Mariska said. “I know that.”
What's so incredible about Mariska's work is how passionate she is about the issues she's working to help fix. And for people who have watched her on SVU for years, it's just so amazing to know how dedicated she is in real life, too. She's not just playing a character on a show. In some ways, she became that character.
Olivia has inspired audiences for years. Now Mariska is going beyond the TV screen and putting all of her passion to good use. She's truly changing the lives of survivors who reached out to her and even those whom she has never met. While no one would say that her on-screen work isn't important, what she has done off-screen is just tremendous.
