--- description: Mariska Hargitay is the founder and president of the Joyful Heart Foundation and stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Despite the progress we... title: Mariska Hargitay: 'Society Continues to Misplace Blame on Survivors' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65ceabf0bb35656b/6986900ecd804d47f0ccaefe/mh2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Mariska Hargitay: 'Society Continues to Misplace Blame on Survivors' ## Video: My Rapist Is Still on Campus: Sexual Assault in the Ivy League [Watch (HLS stream): My Rapist Is Still on Campus: Sexual Assault in the Ivy League](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/o8izpqKu.m3u8) (6:50)  _Published 2014-05-14. In April, 23 Columbia and Barnard students filed a federal Title IX complaint alleging that the University mishandled sexual assault cases_ by [Mariska Hargitay](/author/mariska-hargitay/) ## Mariska Hargitay Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 12:03 PM CUT  Courtesy of Mariska Hargitay by [Mariska Hargitay](/author/mariska-hargitay/) ## Mariska Hargitay Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 12:03 PM CUT _Mariska Hargitay is the founder and president of the_ [_Joyful Heart Foundation_](http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/ "undefined") _and stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit_ Despite the progress we as a nation have made in the movement to end sexual violence, much work remains. Society continues to misplace blame and shame on survivors—both women and men—on college campuses and everywhere else. That has to end. We must confront the myths and excuses that help perpetuate sexual assault. We must speak about these issues, boldly, thoughtfully and often, because criminals thrive when we are silent, when we are reluctant to engage, when we insist that these issues are too murky to sort out. I may not see the end of this violence in my lifetime, but I am committed to doing everything I can to bring it about. _(You can read more opinions in_ [_TIME’s special report: Ending Campus Sexual Assault_](http://time.com/100038/college-sexual-assault-debate/ "undefined") _and get the full story in this week’s cover article by Eliza Gray:_ [_The Sexual Assault Crisis on American Campuses_](http://time.com/100542/the-sexual-assault-crisis-on-american-campuses/ "undefined")_.)_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/"},"headline":"Mariska Hargitay: 'Society Continues to Misplace Blame on Survivors'","datePublished":"2014-05-15T12:03:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:18.039Z","description":"Mariska Hargitay is the founder and president of the Joyful Heart Foundation and stars in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Despite the progress we...","url":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/","keywords":["Living","society","Rape","Sexual Assault"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65ceabf0bb35656b/6986900ecd804d47f0ccaefe/mh2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mariska Hargitay","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mariska-hargitay/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65ceabf0bb35656b/6986900ecd804d47f0ccaefe/mh2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mariska Hargitay","caption":"","creditText":"Courtesy of Mariska Hargitay","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/","name":"Mariska Hargitay: 'Society Continues to Misplace Blame on Survivors'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"My Rapist Is Still on Campus: Sexual Assault in the Ivy League","description":"In April, 23 Columbia and Barnard students filed a federal Title IX complaint alleging that the University mishandled sexual assault cases","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/o8izpqKu/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-14T14:51:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/o8izpqKu.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/","duration":"PT6M50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/100137/campus-sexual-assault-mariska-hargitay/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```