big success
Hollywood star Mariska Hargitay, who has starred on the hit show “Law & Order SVU” for the past 25 years, has sadly revealed that she was raped in her 30s by someone she thought was her friend.
Hargitay reveals that she was raped
Hargitay, 59, revealed this in a poignant article published by People Magazine.
“It wasn't sexual at all. It was dominance and control. Absolute control.” I wrote. He was a friend. Then it wasn't. I've tried every way I know to get out of it. I tried to tell jokes, be charming, set boundaries, reason, and say no.
“He grabbed me by the arms and held me down. “I was terrified,” she continued. “I didn’t want it to escalate into violence. I know now that it was indeed sexual violence, but I was afraid he would become physically violent. She went into freeze mode, a common reaction to trauma when there is no option to escape. “I'm out of my body.”
Hargitay went on to say that she “couldn't process it. I couldn't believe this had happened. That it could happen. So I cut it out. I deleted it from my novel. I now have a lot of empathy for the part of me that made that choice because that part got me through it.” It never happened. Now I respect that part: I did what I had to do to survive.
Hargitay then said she spent years trying to come to terms with what happened through her work with Joyful Heart, an organization she founded that aims to help survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. She even remembers giving speeches in which she denied being a survivor because “it wasn't what I thought I was going to be.”
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Hargitay account
However, as time went on, Hargitay began to face what she described as “reckoning” for her rape.
“Now I can see clearly what happened to me. I understand the neurobiology of trauma,” she said. “Trauma breaks our minds and memories. “The way a mirror breaks.”
Hargitay has spent the past 25 years portraying Detective Olivia Benson as Captain Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU,” where her character helped victims of sexual assault.
“Survivors who watched the show told me that I helped them and gave them strength. But they were the ones who were a source of strength to me,” she wrote. “They experienced darkness, cruelty, and complete disregard for another human being, and they did what they needed to survive. For some, that means making Olivia Benson a big part of their lives — an honor that can't be measured — and for others, it means building a foundation. “We are strong, and we will find a way out.”
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Hargitay's goal for the future
Hargitay is set to turn 60 later this month, and her goal is to use her platform to effect change when it comes to dealing with victims of sexual violence.
“I've said for a long time that my hope is that people can talk about sexual assault in the same way they now talk about cancer,” she said. “Tell someone you survived cancer, and you will be celebrated. I want the same response for survivors of sexual assault. I don’t want to shame the victim. The shame of the act goes back to the perpetrator, and they are the ones who committed the heinous, shameful act.”
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