“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay revealed this week that she was sexually assaulted by a former friend more than two decades ago.
In a personal essay published Wednesday by People, the veteran advocate for survivors of sexual assault and abuse recalled the harrowing attack, which she said she repressed for years.
“A man raped me when I was in my thirties,” Hargitay, 59, opened the essay before detailing the encounter.
“I tried to joke, be charming, set boundaries, reason, say no,” Hargitay wrote. “He grabbed my arms and held me down. He was terrified. He didn't want this to escalate to violence. Now I know it was already sexual violence, but I was afraid he would become physically violent. I went into freeze mode, a common trauma response when there is no option to escape. “I left my body.”
The TV star made the revelation to help remove the stigma and shame associated with survivors of assault and abuse, arguing that they should be celebrated in a similar way to patients who survive cancer.
Immediately after the attack, she said she had not seen herself as a survivor. She had even told her husband that she did not believe it was rape. Instead, she delved into her work, playing her “Law & Order: SVU” character Olivia Benson, a police detective who investigates sex-related crimes in Manhattan. She has played the role since 1999, won an Emmy for the role in 2006 and has been nominated seven other times. To prepare for the position, Hargitay trained to become a counselor for rape survivors. And in 2004, she founded Joyful Heart, a nonprofit organization that advocates and supports survivors of sexual assault, abuse, and domestic violence.
But in her essay, Hargitay said she struggled to recognize her own attack.
“I couldn't process it,” he wrote. “I couldn't believe what happened. What could happen. So I cut it. I eliminated it from my narrative.”
However, over time and with the help of friends, Hargitay was able to cope with the incident and realized that her friend had raped her.
“Now I can clearly see what they did to me,” he continued. “I understand the neurobiology of trauma. Trauma fractures our mind and our memory. How a mirror breaks.
As part of her advocacy work, Hargitay testified before Congress to request more federal funding to combat backlogs of rape testing kits, a problem affecting cities across the United States. A year earlier, more than 11,000 untested rape kits were discovered in a Detroit police warehouse, according to the Detroit News. Some of the kits were decades old and contained the DNA needed to prosecute the attackers.
In 2014, Hargitay advocated for a law in Michigan that would establish more direct requirements for police to be proactive in testing rape kits to help investigators identify criminals. The law has helped identify more than 800 rapists.
Delays in untested rape kits were documented in the 2018 HBO documentary “I Am Evidence,” which Hargitay produced and appeared in.
“SVU” will begin airing its 25th season next week, the show's first since the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes ended last year. Hargitay returns as Captain Benson, alongside co-stars Christopher Meloni and Ice T. However, “SVU,” the longest-running live-action primetime television series, has been mired in controversy since noted writer television broadcaster David Graziano took over. showrunner before season 24.
After Graziano got the job, the show's script coordinator resigned, and the subsequent job offer prompted warnings from people who had previously worked with him. In a 2022 Times investigation, more than a dozen people who have worked with him on other shows described him as a volatile and intimidating boss who angered his subordinates, left staff in tears and made inappropriate and degrading comments toward women, the support staff and people. color.
Graziano, who still runs “SVU,” admitted to the Times that he was “a difficult person to work with” but denied the core of the allegations, while vowing to “work on myself daily.”
At the time, Hargitay did not respond to The Times' requests for comment on the allegations.
