“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay made a cameo at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night as part of a segment on violence against women.
The actress — who has portrayed NYPD Detective Olivia Benson on the NBC drama for 20 years — appeared in a video touting Joe Biden’s work to pass the Violence Against Women Act in the 1990s.
Hargitay said she and Biden had worked together to address the national backlog of untested rape kits, sending “a vital message to survivors that what happened to them matters.”
“The VP has worked tirelessly to end the backlog of hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits,” said Hargitay.
She runs the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization to help abuse survivors heal. The segment also featured two other advocates, Ruth Glenn of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Carly Dryden of It’s On Us.
The video included footage of several survivors of domestic abuse testifying in the Senate after being invited by Biden in 1990.
The former vice president has talked-up his record on domestic violence and other issues affecting women.
He also also been accused, by his former Senate staffer Tara Reade, of sexually assaulting her in 1993. He has denied the allegation.



