TW: Mentions Sexual assault
For many of us, the television shows and movies we watch inspire us. And in the case of Mariska Hargitay, her starring role as Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit inspired her and countless other people who have watched the show since it first premiered in 1999. When the series premiered its twenty-first season it became TV’s longest-running primetime live-action series, and the series is still holding strong and last week it premiered its twenty-third season with Mariska Hargitay as showrunner and executive producer.
When viewers meet Olivia Benson in the show’s pilot, she’s a detective in the New York City Police Department’s Special Victims Unit which investigates sexual assaults, child abuse and hate crime cases. From early on viewers can see how passionate and dedicated to her work Olivia is, she fights for the rights of victims and survivors so they can get the justice that they deserve. Her dedication hasn’t waned over the years, Benson advanced to Sergeant, Lieutenant, and now Captain all while working her hardest to help survivors of sexual assault. Mariska Hargitay has received eight Emmy nominations for her work on the show and in 2008 she won the award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.
Similar to her character, Hargitay has moved up the ranks from the lead actress, then added executive producer to her resume, and she has even directed a few episodes. To prepare for her role as Olivia Benson, Mariska got rape advocate training. After the show premiered, Hargitay received letters from hundreds of survivors of sexual violence who felt inspired and seen so she became a certified rape counselor to better help those who reach out to her. In 2004, she founded the Joyful Heart Foundation which provides survivors of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence with therapeutic support programs that can include yoga, meditation, and journaling and has raised over $30 million for survivors.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has also impacted society through how it approaches topics like sexual assault, rape, child abuse in a way that is understandable while still making viewers uncomfortable enough to start important conversations. A 2015 study showed that people who watch SVU have “healthier attitudes” towards topics like consent and what really causes sexual violence. However, the show is not perfect, one common critique is that the show speeds up the trial process to fit into a one-hour episode format when in reality this process can take years. Another critique is how the show unrealistically serves justice to victims of sexual violence, in the real world most perpetrators of sexual violence go unpunished due to people not believing them or victims do not report it in the first place. According to RAINN, an organization that combats sexual violence, of every 1,000 sexual assaults, 310 are reported, and of that, just 50 lead to arrest, 28 of those cases will lead to a felony conviction and 25 will be incarcerated. The series has also had a positive impact on jury pools in real-life cases, jurors know what to expect from watching the show and it can help prosecutors’ cases. Over the past two decades, the show has help shape society’s views on sexual violence which in turn leads to better trial results for victims.